Collaboration Part Deux
by Amber Collins
Summary: The authors in the forum have done another collaboration. Hurricane's a hitting and the gang is in for some surprises.
1. Chapter 1

**_Here is the second collaboration by the forum writers. Our cast is_**

Corny: **tadsgirl**

Amber: **tadsgirl**

Darla: **LazyChestnut**

Link: **hippogriff-tamer**

Tracy: **hippogriff-tamer**

Brenda: **Obviously Insane**

Penny: **Nor of Kiamo Ko**

Seaweed: **Nor of Kiamo Ko**

Paulie: **LazyChestnut**

Brad: **KaityDid66**

IQ: **KaityDid66**

Fender: **Spooony**

Noreen: **Elphie-Glindy**

Doreen: **Spooony**

Becky: **Elphie-Glindy**

**_Enjoy!_**

Darla sighed as she pushed a limp lock of hair out of her face; she had been up late the night before studying, and that, combined with all the dancing they had done today, was starting to get to her. She made a mental note to never stay up until midnight studying Chemistry again.

Paulie wandered over to Darla's vanity and leant against it, watching her try and hold back her hair with some Ultra-Clutch. "You know, they say Stanley is gonna hit us tomorrow, maybe even tonight."

Darla tried and failed to stifle her yawn. "Maybe it'll pass over us like most of the others this year."

Paulie opened his mouth to answer, but it fell open all the way. "_Whoa_. Look what the _wind_ blew in!"

Darla turned around and gasped as she saw Brenda Wheeler in all her pregnant glory.

* * *

Link sat with his back against the wall. His signature curl showed signs of wilting. Tracy sat between his legs, her head resting on his chest. Her own 'do had deflated a bit.

"Nice dancing today doll," he told her.

Tracy grinned. "Thanks Link, you weren't so bad yourself. It's been a long week," she added

Link nodded. "I'm glad it's almost the weekend. Do you want to get going?" he asked.

"Let's stay like this for a while longer," Tracy answered moving her head slightly to a more comfortable position.

"Ok," Link said, kissing her cheek.

* * *

Corny listened intently to Mike the Weatherman get updates from the National Weather Service. Mike's face was somber. He nodded wordlessly to the phone while he scribbled notes. Corny tried to look over his shoulder to see what he was writing but Mike shifted away.

"Right...Fine, okay. Good. That's what I'll lead with..." Mike finally said. "Thanks Hugh. Yup, bye." Mike turned to hurry into the newsroom, nearly running into Corny blocking his way.

"How's it look Mike?" Corny asked as he tried to peep at the notes. Suddenly the building shivered and an audible groan could be heard.

Both Mike and Corny looked up. "Oh that's not good. Really not good," Mike said under his breath. "Look Corny, the guys at Weather service said this storm is turning towards us. It's a Cat 3 but building. If I were you I would get out of here while you can."

"You staying?" Corny asked, already knowing the answer.

"As long as I can," Mike replied, "Dad helped me board up the windows of the bungalow last night. Rita and the kids went inland with them. I have nothing to go home to and figure I'll be safer here. If the Civil Defense approves the sub-level for attack by the Ruskies, it sure will keep a hurricane at bay."

Corny smiled. "Yeah, all the boys did mom's house yesterday right after I finished mine. I had the same plan. I'd rather be here than my own basement, actually."

"Listen, I gotta go," Mike said with a worried look on his face. "See you after the news."

"Yeah break a leg, big guy." Corny smacked him on the back. "Mind if I join you there for a bit? I want to see what's shakin'."

Mike tipped his head toward the door and was off. Corny wanted to see what the evacuation plan was for Baltimore. Mike was right. The building was equipped with a Civil Defense shelter for emergencies. From what Corny could see coming into work, there wouldn't be much of a call for it from the people downtown. The place was like a ghost town as he came in. It would probably only be filled with the people immediately connected to the station. Especially if the Governor's evacuation plan went as well as it did with the last storm. Not too many people left and not too many people in danger. Corny made his way to the news desk and shuffled through the notes. Suddenly, the News Director flew in, followed by Ed the Six O'clock newscaster.

"Clear out Collins!" he shouted. "We're on in ten!"

Ed and Robert took their places behind the desk. Both shuffled papers and adjusted ties and suit coats. Corny caught sight of the notes the director held. They were to announce the total evacuation of the Greater Baltimore Area. All residents were to seek shelter immediately. Corny decided to see how many of his dancers were still there. These kids needed to get home.

* * *

Darla remained frozen in her seat. "Why do you think she's here?"

Paulie shrugged. "I dunno; probably to get money from Corny."

Darla smacked him. "Paulie! We don't even know that Corny's the father!"

It was kind of cute, Paulie decided, that Darla could be so innocent about some things.

Darla got up from her seat and, in typical girl fashion, made her way to Becky's vanity. "Becky! _Look_ what the wind blew in!"

* * *

Amber and Shelley watched the monitor near the door by the vanities. The newscasters announced the evacuation of the city. They stood with their arms around each other, studying the screen.

"I'm scared," Shelley whispered, "what if it actually hits this time?"

Amber replied, "I don't know, but I hope everyone is safe."

Shelley remembered back to when Amber was going to be kicked off the show. She was pretty happy at the time. She never liked Amber, because she was mean and said mean things to everyone. But when Shelley saw how hurt she was with the way her mom cheated and when Amber realized she never won the contest for real, she kind of felt sorry for her. When Amber walked into the studio the next week, no one would talk to her. Shelley felt terrible. No one should be treated that way, no matter how mean they are. Then Corny said she couldn't come back. Shelley knew that was wrong. Amber didn't cheat, it wasn't fair. Shelley couldn't help but yell at Corny when he said it.

She smiled now when she thought of the look on Amber's face. The person she thought hated her the most stood by her side. For some reason, Shelley couldn't let it happen. Corny wasn't that unfair and Shelley was brave about it. Amber wouldn't look her in the eye when she thanked her. Shelley gave her a little hug and never pushed her or yelled again. Corny let her stay and after a while they became friends. Best friends. Telling secrets and writing notes. Even borrowing each other's shoes and dresses. Now they could be scared together.

"Maybe we should leave now," Shelley said as she pulled Amber by the arm. "I want to go home."

Corny burst through the door and both girls jumped.


	2. Chapter 2

Becky slowly ran her fingers across the top of her indian doll's small head, tracing the braided black hair with her finger. She sighed. A feeling in the pit of her stomach told her that something was not right. Her heart pounded fast, deep within her chest, as if she'd just jogged across the studio in a short amount of time; like she did at the beginning of the show that day when she was late. How could she be so stupid? How could she let those moments slip away, when the storm could bring the end? That wasn't what she wanted. She wanted to be at home with the people she loved. She wanted to be in Bix's arms. The blonde sighed again, and brought her arms tightly around her body. No matter how hard she tried to hide it, her eyes still showed her fear. This was going to be a long night.

* * *

Darla huffed a little and turned away. Becky was so lost in thought (as usual) that she was oblivious to her surroundings.

"Bix just now walked out; wanna see if we can catch him and get a ride home?" Darla asked.

"Sure," Paulie replied, following her as they headed towards the exit.

Just outside the door, however, there was a cop, drenched in the rain. He shook his head at them. "I'm sorry," he shouted over the rain and the wind, "but no one is allowed to leave the building right now."

"You're kidding!" Paulie shouted back. "We _have_ to get home! We have school tomorrow, and we have homework!"

Normally, Paulie wasn't exactly a stickler for the rules, but Darla decided not to bring that up.

"I'm sorry, kid," the cop said with a note of impatience in his voice. "Orders is orders. This hurricane's a doozy; they want everyone to stay put and in their basements. We'll tell you when you can go."

Paulie glared at him, preparing to argue, but Darla laid a hand on his arm. He felt an electric shock at the touch; girls normally didn't touch him voluntarily, and he still had trouble adjusting to Darla's willing presence.

"Come on, Paulie," she urged. "We'll just wait it out."

Paulie nodded and let her lead him back inside.

* * *

Corny caught sight of Shelley and Amber as they startled.

"Oh sorry girls," he said as he flitted by. He saw the worried look on Amber's face and wanted to stop, but what he had to say was too important right now. He strutted over to the door where Paulie and Darla were talking to the officer. He knew without even hearing the words, what they were told.

"Come on, kids. Let's round everyone up. Let's see who's left, okay?"

He looked at them, motioned them away from the door, but didn't wait for a response. He waved the other kids over. "Come on everyone. Let's have a Pow wow, right now." He wanted to snicker at the rhyme but this was just too serious.

Without waiting for the others, he began to speak. "Kids, we're not leaving here tonight." He heard gasps all around him. "The city is being evacuated and no cars will be going in and out. For all of you who have parents trying to pick you up, you need to try to phone home immediately. Hopefully, your parents haven't left yet. They will not be allowed here to get you. Tell them that you're safe. If any of them would like to speak to me, I can reassure them that I'll keep a good eye on you." He winked and smiled, "Now get dialing....."

Corny hoped that most of the parents had not left. They would be frantic when the roads were blocked. Perhaps they could leave a message with a younger sibling or the other parent that they would be safe. He said a silent prayer as he heard conversations go on as they lined up for the phone. He made his way over to Shelley. "Shelley, you can use the phone in the booth."

Shelley nodded and ran off.

His eyes drifted to Amber. She looked so small and childlike. Her brows knitted together and there were tears in her eyes. "It will be okay, Amber. Really," he said, trying to calm her fears.

She didn't answer. She looked into his eyes then down and walked away.

* * *

"But I still don't understand."

Seaweed sighed and tried to explain again. Penny was normally cute when she got frustrated, but there was a limit. "Okay, so basically if they're right triangles, you can prove that they're congruent if their hypotenuses are--"

Suddenly, Penny felt a gust of wind and water on her face. She held her hand up, and Seaweed stopped talking long enough to see what was going on. The door to the studio was standing wide open, and there was a policeman in the doorway talking to Paulie and Darla. Seaweed couldn't hear much over the wind, but Penny gasped like there was something wrong.

Before Seaweed could even ask what it was, Penny was yelling. "WHAT? We're stuck here? For how long?"

* * *

Darla and Paulie exchanged worried looks as Corny finished his speech.

"No one's getting out? What if it hits?" Darla asked nervously.

"Oh, we'll be fine," Paulie said in a manly voice, trying to impress Darla.

"I know _we'll_ be fine," Darla said, beginning to twist her skirt in her hands. "I mean, this building is pretty stable. But what about our families? My house is pretty flimsy. And, and Bix is out on the road..." She turned pale. "I'm going to call my parents right now!" she squeaked, making a mad dash to the front desk, where she knew there was a telephone. She prayed it wasn't being used.

Paulie was also beginning to feel some pangs of worry. They had had storms before, and the worst of the damage had been a few broken limbs lying around the yard and on the roof. But there again, they had never been asked to stay in one place before, either. And then there was Bix...he had left literally _minutes_ ago. What if something happened to him, too? Paulie glanced around him; teenagers were dashing everywhere in a flurry of skirts and suits, trying to locate unused phones. He shoved his hands in his pockets; he could wait to use a phone.

* * *

Corny wanted to follow Amber. He didn't know just exactly 'why' he wanted to follow her, maybe it was her tiny frame trembling as she walked away or maybe it was that he knew she had no one to call since Velma took the job in Atlanta. Or maybe it was the blue of her eyes, or the way her lips pouted out...

He shook his head. _Phew! Not now Collins!_ he told himself. He spied Seaweed with his arm around Penny as she spoke into the Phone. He made his way over, looking at his watch and trying to figure out the time and distance to the Stubbs apartment above the Record Store. "Seaweed," he said as he put a hand on his shoulder. "How long ago did your Mama and Inez leave?"

* * *

Brenda wasn't sure why she'd come here in the first place. She wasn't wanted here, that she knew for sure. Avoiding Corny was one thing, but avoiding the looks that the Council Girls kept throwing her way every two seconds? Visiting her old friends wasn't supposed to be this stressful. And the fact that her back was killing her wasn't helping matters. She rubbed her shoulders, letting out a heavy sigh.

_'There's a couch over there,'_ she thought lazily, feeling her eyes begin to close. Maybe she should lie down for awhile; she might feel better, and maybe maybe maybe her feet would stop hurting for once. She walked over to the couch, which smelled kind of like old meat and vinegar, and sat down. It wasn't the most comfortable (or hygienic) thing in the world, but it would have to do. Before she fell asleep, she thought fleetingly of Brad maybe trying to do something while she was resting (and knowing Brad, it would probably be putting his socks on her face, rather than taking the more scandalous route), but it didn't really matter. She was out.


	3. Chapter 3

Brad was bored. He hated waiting around, he got fidgety if he had to sit still for too long. He looked around the room at the other council members, they were all scattered about the studio doing their own thing, all worried about the storm. Brad often put on a facade for other people, he wanted to seem brave when he really wasn't, the fact was, this storm had worried him too. What would happen if they could never make it out of here? He really just wanted to go home and put on some good tunes and relax.

* * *

Tracy turned her body so that she was looking at Link's blue eyes. "Did Corny just say what I think he said?"

Link looked into her brown orbs. "It sounded like he said we weren't leaving here tonight."

"I heard rain and wind a few minutes ago," Tracy said looking around the room.

"I heard reports of a hurricane on the news before school today," Link told her.

Tracy stood. Link stood up besides her. "What are we going to do here all night and what about our parents, what if they are stuck somewhere?" she asked.

Link knew that Tracy was addressing Corny but a thought came to mind. "At least being in the studio we have enough hairspray to keep our 'do's looking like new."

Tracy shook her head. "There's a hurricane outside and you're thinking about keeping our hair looking nice."

She immediately looked around to see if there was an unused phone to call her parents. She knew that her mom would fret over her being stuck in the studio, never mind being stuck there with Link. Even though Corny and the others were there Edna would still warn Tracy to think before she acted that was if Tracy could get a hold of her mom or dad.

* * *

Shelley walked over to the phone and dialed her home number. YES! It wasn't busy! Good thing her little sister Gloria wasn't hogging it!

One ring, two rings.

"Hello?" She heard Gloria's voice.

"Sissy! Put Mom on the phone!" Shelley cried. "It's important!"

"Oh!" was all she heard as the phone dropped. Her mom picked it up. "Shelley?!? Where are you? I thought you and Amber were coming straight home after the show! I was so worried!"

"Mom, they said we can't leave because of the Hurricane, we have to spend the night." Shelley said with a sigh, "I'm so glad you're safe! Are you watching the news?"

"Yes! We were watching and getting things together," she replied. "They are sending us to Sutton Place Apartments. To the shelter there. Shelley, will you be all right? I'm so scared. Who's there with you?"

"Corny's here! He said that he would take care of us. Do you want to talk to him?" she cried.

"Yes! Oh yes, let me talk to him," her mother said breathlessly.

"Wait, I'll get him......" Shelley exclaimed as she turned to leave the booth and the phone dropped behind her. Shelley ran out to where Corny was standing with Seaweed. "Corny! My mom wants to talk to you," she said breathlessly. "Can you come?"

Corny put a finger up to Seaweed. "I'll be back, man." He followed Shelley back to the booth.

Shelley yanked the receiver up by the cord "Mom? Yeah he's right here." She nearly tossed the phone at him.

"Hello, Mrs. Ambrose?" he said, trying to muster up an authoritative voice. "Corny Collins here. Yes ma'am, that's right. No. No cars are allowed to leave. Yes, there are a few of us left, some of the dancers and the newscasters. No ma'am, we'll be all right. The shelter downstairs is safe. Yes, I will keep an eye on the girls, no problem…"

As Corny spoke, Shelley's mind drifted. Did Joey make it home okay? Was he safe?

"Yes ma'am. Stay safe. Bye," Shelley heard Corny say. He handed her the phone, smiled at her and walked out.

"Mom?" Shelley said into the phone.

"Oh Honey, please listen to Mr. Collins now," she could hear her mother's tears. "Listen to him and stay safe, okay?"

"Okay Mom. You too. You get going to the shelter," Shelley said.

"I love you, Baby."

Shelley couldn't help but smile. Normally, she hated when her mother called her baby, but not this time. "I love you too, Mommy. I love you forever. Bye." Shelley hung up before she broke down totally.

Shelley wiped away her tears and took a moment to recover. She picked up the receiver and dialed. The phone didn't even seem to ring before she heard, "Hello?"

"JOEY!" she cried. "You're home!"

She heard a startled 'yip' and the phone clunked to the floor.

"Jeepers Shelley! You scared me!" Joey cried. "Where are you?"

"I'm at the studio, they won't let us go," she exclaimed. "All the roads are blocked and we have to spend the night."

Joey cleared his throat. "You mean we could have stayed there, TOGETHER?" he asked slyly.

"Joey, it's not a party!" she barked. "This is serious!"

There was a silence. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," she said quietly.

"Listen, Sweetpea, there's something I want to tell you. In case something happens, I just want you to know. I want you to know…um…I want you to know…"

Shelley knew what he was about to say. She knew and she felt the same, but she wanted to see his face when he said it for the first time. "I know. You don't have to say it, I know. And I do too," she said with a sigh.

* * *

Amber sat on the floor holding her knees and rocking. She was thinking hard about the storm. There were lots of bad things that could happen. The building could flood and she could drown, the wind could knock down the walls and crush her or blow her dress up and everyone would see her underwear (which had little bunny rabbits on them, but that's personal). Maybe even everyone would DIE out of plain shock! It would be terrible! She never felt so alone even though there were so many people in the studio. She really just wanted to go home and lay in her bed. She didn't want to think about it any more. She wanted to sit with Shelley, talk and forget about it. Shelley was nowhere around.

"Can I get you anything, Amber?" she heard. There, standing above her, was the one person who could make her even more uncomfortable. Corny was there with his hand out to help her up.

"No, thanks," she replied as she looked at his hand. "I can get up myself," she said as she stood.

"I just talked to Mrs. Ambrose," he continued while scanning the room. "I told her that you and Shelley would stay with me, Okay?"

She thought of the sweet pink and yellow room they shared at Shelley's house and wished she was there. "Oh, okay." Then she walked away. A frustrated feeling overcame her. She wanted to tell him thank you. She wanted to say that's great. She wanted to tell him that she would like to spend more time with him, but she knew that would be silly. He was Corny, after all. She wished she could tell him lots of things. But instead she walked away.


	4. Chapter 4

Darla felt tears sting at her eyes as the phone rang and rang. Why wasn't anyone picking up?! She began to cry; what if they had died?! What if a rogue tree branch had been knocked from a tree and battered all of their heads?! What if they had gone outside and been swept away by a torrent of floodwater and drowned?!

"Hello?!"

Darla choked on her sob and tried to speak over her thick tongue. "Mmalgnadj anga--"

"What?"

"M-mom!" Darla choked.

"Darla! Honey, where are you?!"

"I'm s-still at the s-studio; they s-said we c-can't l-l-leave!"

"Oh, honey. Don't worry; you'll be just fine there. They're sending us to a shelter, so don't you worry about a thing."

Darla took a deep breath, her chin still trembling from held-back tears. "Is B-Bix home yet?"

"Bix? Well, I don't know. Isn't he there with you?"

"No; he left just a few minutes before they told us we couldn't leave. Do you think he's..."

"I'm sure he's just fine. Now, you just do as Mr. Collins says and keep calm, okay?"

Darla nodded, even though she knew her mom couldn't see her. "Okay. I love you."

"I love you too, sweetie. Bye."

"Bye."

Darla hung up, sniffling, and slowly headed back to the studio.

* * *

Seaweed shook his head, trying to clear the frantic mess of thoughts in it. "Uh, I think they left about an hour ago. Inez was feeling a little sick." That was good, anyway; an hour would have been plenty of time for them to get safely home.

Penny didn't say anything, just clung to him. He knew she was afraid of thunderstorms, but he had never seen this level of terror from her before... it frightened him. Seaweed put an arm around his girlfriend protectively. "It'll be okay," he whispered.

Penny smiled shakily. "Thanks," she whispered. "I should probably go call my mother."

"Good idea." Seaweed kissed her forehead. "I'll be here, okay?"

"Okay." Penny walked away in search of a phone without a worried teenager attached to it.

* * *

Corny heard Seaweed relay the time to Penny as he ran by on his way back to the newsroom. He flipped Seaweed a thumbs up. If Maybelle and Inez left an hour ago, they should be safely back to the neighborhood and onto a shelter. That was two people he didn't need to worry about.

He ran back into the newsroom. The weather map had three large half circles showing the Greater Baltimore area. The first was basically where it would hit full force, but all three were under evacuations. The small hurricane symbol sat off shore but not that far. His thoughts turned to the kids. Time to start getting things together and down to safety.

* * *

Fender was quaking in his imitation leather shoes. He _couldn't _be stuck here all night. He would then have to admit to everyone that, thanks to several sessions throughout his life locked in dark closets with disturbing things, he had an immense fear of the dark. Not so much of the dark, as the things that lurked in said dark. However, it wasn't exactly sophisticated to have a fear of purple hairy monsters.

Fender picked up a nearby payphone and dialed with trembling fingers.

"Mommy!" he squealed. He blushed scarlet when he spotted Shelley nearby, giving him a pitying look, and let out a more manly "Hey Mom. S'up."

"WHO THE SAM HECK IS THIS, CALLING AT THIS TIME 'O NIGHT?!" an angry, scratchy old voice bellowed from down the phone.

"Oh, hi Granny. It's Fender."

"WHO THE DEVIL IS FENDER?"

"Franklin," he said, wincing slightly at both his name, and his almost deaf grandmother's not-so-dulcet tones.

"WHAT ON EARTH DO _YOU _WANT?"

"Granny, there's been an emergency. The hurricane's forcing the whole council to stay inside, probably for a long while. Could you tell my mother?"

"FRANKLIN THAT IS POPPYCOCK. IT'S ONLY DRIZZLING WITH A LIGHT BREEZE AT BEST. STOP BEING SUCH A PANTYWAIST LIKE YOUR FATHER!" she screeched amid the howling winds, with the occasional crack of a falling tree.

"But Gran-"

"THIS IS SOME GODFORSAKEN EXCUSE TO STAY OUT LATE AND BUMP UGLIES WITH SOME FLOOZY."

Fender rolled his eyes and hung up the phone. Brilliant. Now his mother would be worried sick. Not wanting to seem weak or afraid, he leant against the door in what seemed a suave way. But his mysterious aura was broken when somebody swung the door open, causing him to fly into a crumpled heap on the floor, in a puppet like sort of way.

* * *

Darla frowned as she felt some resistance from behind the door; upon closer inspection, she saw that the "resistance" had been none other than Fender. He was now lying sprawled on the floor, looking like a dropped puppet. She gasped and knelt beside him.

"Fender? Oh my gosh, Fender, I'm so sorry! I didn't see you there! Are you okay? Do you think you have a concussion? How many fingers am I holding up?" she asked frantically, holding up two shaking fingers.

* * *

Tracy thought she spotted one that was not being used. She started towards it. She could see Penny searching for one too. She knew that the look on Penny's face probably mirrored her own. Tracy turned back and noticed that Link still stood in the same spot.

"Shouldn't you call your dad too?" she asked him.

Link looked at her. "Yeah, I probably should." Noticing the worried look on her face he smiled a genuine smile (not his camera smile) at her and offered her his hand. "Come on, doll, let's go see if we can find a phone."

Tracy grinned as she took his hand. "There's one over that looks like its not being used," she said motioning to the phone.

"Well let's go then before someone else grabs it. I bet your mom is worrying something awful."

"I bet she is too," she said as they headed towards the phone. She picked up the receiver and dialed her home number. Edna picked up.

"TRACY IS THAT YOU??? Where are you? Are you safe?" she immediately asked.

Tracy was glad to hear her mom's voice but she could over worry at times. "It's me, Ma, I'm still at the studio. Link, Penny, Corny and some of the others are still here. We are safe but they told us that we can't leave tonight."

"I don't know about you being alone all night with Link, hun. Remember everything I've told you about dating and boys."

"Ma, don't worry, I remember but we are hardly alone here," Tracy answered, rolling her eyes slightly.

"All right, but remember the word 'No' is always an option," Edna told her.

"All right Ma, is Daddy ok?"

"Yes, he's right here. He closed up the shop early," Edna answered.

Tracy sighed, knowing both her parents were safe. After a few more minutes she hung up. "It's your turn to call your father," Tracy said, handing Link the phone.


	5. Chapter 5

**_I had to upload a chapter to see it's length. Thanks so much for the R&Rs!_**

Link took the phone from her. He didn't want to show it but he was worried about his parents as well. Tracy was watching him, love pouring from her eyes. He did love her and knew that he could show her his vulnerabilities but allowing himself to do so scared him. He dialed the number and waited.

"Hello," a familiar, masculine voice said.

Link brushed his hand through his hair. He was relieved to hear his father's voice. "Hi Dad."

"Link, where are you? Are you out in the storm?"

"No Dad, I'm at the studio with Tracy, Corny, Fender, Darla, Seaweed, Penny and Amber, I think, as well as some of the others who haven't left. Listen, they told us that we need to stay put here in the studio for the night."

"That sounds like the best idea, it looks well like a hurricane out there," Mr. Larkin told him.

Link made a small sound similar to the one he made that day when Tracy told Miss Maybelle that she always slept in history class. His father certainly had a way with words he thought.

"Is that Lincoln?" he heard a worried feminine voice in the background. He winced at hearing his full name. There were only two people that ever called him by that name; his grandmother and his mother.

Mr. Larkin answered the other person. "Yes dear. Hold on son, your mom wants to talk to you."

Link heard muffled sounds as his mom took the phone.

"Lincoln honey, are you alright?" Mrs. Larkin asked.

"I'm fine mom. We need to stay here in the studio tonight."

Mrs. Larkin was relieved to hear Links voice. "Well they do have enough Ultra Clutch there to sustain your coif," she said teasing him.

"Yes mom," he said smiling a little. She knew him too well.

"Is there enough food and places for you to sleep?" she asked.

"We'll figure something out."

Mrs. Larkin nodded even though Link couldn't see it. "Remember, since Tracy's there, be a gentleman."

"I'm always a gentleman with Trace, mom."

He glanced at Tracy and smiled as he said that. She gave him a curious expression.

"Corny's there too, along with Amber and the other dancers," his father said in the background.

"Well, if Mr. Collins is there then I know you'll be well taken care of," his mom told him.

Link didn't want to mention what happened only weeks earlier at Amber's party and that he thought Corny was still upset over the whole misunderstanding that erupted so he just agreed with his mom. He still felt bad for everything that had happened. "I'm sure he will, Mom."

"I hope Velma's not too worried about poor Amber," his mom continued. She had always felt bad for Amber, thinking that her mom had pushed her into the spotlight.

Link didn't know if she was or not or what Amber was doing but he decided that it was best to calm his mother's worries. "I'm sure Amber is calling her right now. Look, Mom, I should get off so the others can call their parents."

"All right honey, be good and tell Tracy that we are glad she's safe."

"I will Mom, goodbye." Link sighed as he hung up the phone. He turned to Tracy. "Mom is glad you're safe and she told me to be a gentleman."

* * *

Corny followed Amber as she walked down the hall. "Amber, listen, if you want to call your mother in Atlanta, you can use the phone in my office. I'll cover the Long Distance charge, not a problem," he said to her back.

She turned.

"Seriously, " he said, " I think you need to tell her that you're all right. She'll be worried."

"She doesn't care about me," she sighed. "If I blew away she wouldn't care at all, with her big new job and new boyfriend. She sure didn't care when she left me here."

"I'm sure she cares Amber, you're her daughter!" Corny held her hands and looked in her eyes. "She loves you."

"Then why didn't she stay at the job you got her? Why didn't she stay with me?" Tears welled up in her eyes.

He wanted to hold her. To let her see that people do care about her, but now was not the time.

"I guess she figured that with as close as you and Shelley got after the party, she didn't need to be here." He watched her eyes flood. He rubbed her shoulders. "Look Amber, I know we had our differences. I certainly wasn't nice to you after your party. I'm truly sorry for that, but how about we call a truce and call your mom. We have to go to the shelter soon. You're not going to have too much time after that...."

She looked down and nodded. They walked together to his office.

* * *

IQ sat out where the audience usually sat. He had his nose in a book as usual. He heard footsteps approaching and he looked up and saw Brad standing there. "Hi Brad."

"Hey IQ."

IQ went back to his book. But Brad continued to stand there watching him read.

"Can I help you with something Brad?"

"No...I just thought I'd come over here and see what you were doing."

"I'm reading, can't you see that?"

"Right." Brad cleared his throat "What are you reading?"

"_Moby Dick_."

"Oh. Sounds interesting."

"Yes, very interesting, now if you don't mind, I'd like to get back to reading."

"But aren't you worried?"

"About the hurricane?"

"No. About the Martians from Mars coming down in the middle of the night and attacking you with chocolate pudding while you're sleeping. Yes I mean the hurricane."

IQ gave him a look. "No Brad, I'm not very worried. This building is structurally sound and will withstand the winds of a category three hurricane."

"But didn't they say that it was going to be stronger than that?"

"I don't know Brad, why don't you go ask the weatherman, I'm trying to read!"

"Okay, you don't have to get so uppity!"

"I'm sorry Brad, I'm just as worried as you are."

"Me? Worried? I'm not worried. Why would you say that?"

"Because you're being less of a jerk than you normally are."

"Hey now! I'm not a jerk."

IQ gave him another look. "Have you called home yet?"

"No, not yet."

"You better call soon, you're folks might get worried."

"No, it's ok. I've got Corny here."

"Oh right. You lucky son of a gun."

"Yes well, we're all going to be ok."

"I hope so."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Paulie used the phone in the booth once Shelley had hung up. He dialed his home number carefully, holding his breath as it rang. No one picked up. Paulie exhaled and put the phone back on the hook. He didn't like admitting it, but he kind of wanted to talk to his parents before...well, before the storm hit. On the other hand, if they hadn't picked up, they were probably at a shelter. With this thought in mind, he headed to the center of the studio and spoke in what he hoped was a loud, carrying voice.

"Hey, um, everyone? The storm's getting closer, and, and I think we should probably head down to the shelter like...now. Um, that's all."

He flushed the same color as his hair as he finished his "announcement."

* * *

Tracy and Link turned as they heard Paulie speak.

"Where is a shelter that we can get to and what about our parents?" she asked.

Link shrugged. "I think there's one in the studio somewhere and our parents have basements for shelter."

Tracy smiled at him. "That's true about our parents." She then looked to Paulie or whoever could answer her. "Is there a shelter in the studio for us to go?"

* * *

Paulie nodded, trying to fight the flush of his cheeks. "Uh, yeah, it's down in the basement. Here, I'll show you."

Paulie led the way to the shelter. He never thought all those pranks with Brad in the past would pay off in such a way! When he was fairly certain that everyone knew where to go, he turned back to find Darla. The logical part of him knew that she wasn't in any _real _danger, but he was crazy about that girl and he couldn't hold still until she was safe in that basement. On the way, however, he paused at the couch that had been put to the side in case any of the girls fainted from exhaustion like some of them had in the past.

"Uh, Brenda? You know that there's a hurricane coming...right?"

* * *

Link noticed that Tracy was slightly embarrassed. He actually thought that she looked kind of cute.

"I should have known that a building like this would have a basement and that's what we would use for a shelter," she told him.

"Don't worry Trace, I don't think many people realized that the shelter was the basement."

She looked up at him. "But we were just talking about shelters the other day in science."

Link grinned at her. "But you always sleep through science."

"It's history that I sleep through, not science."

"I've seen you sleep in science before Trace."

Tracy frowned at him. "Maybe once, anyways we should follow Paulie since he knows the way to the shelter."

Link nodded. He knew not to argue with Tracy. She was never one to give up easily. He decided to lean over and capture her lips. "Trace, let's not argue anymore," he said after their lips parted.

Tracy was momentarily at a loss for words so she just nodded as he took her hand and followed Paulie. "Wait! Where are Penny and Seaweed?" Tracy asked before they had walked too far.

"They probably heard Paulie and are doing exactly what we are doing," he answered.

Tracy hoped so as she looked around for them.

* * *

Brad looked around after Paulie had finished his announcement. Shelter? He thought that they would be ok in the middle of the studio. He still hadn't called home and he knew that he needed to do it now. He went into the sound booth and dialed home. He waited a few rings till he heard someone pick up. "Hello?"

"Dad?"

"Bradley, is that you? Where are you? Are you safe?"

"Yes dad, I'm fine. I'm at the studio. It looks like we're going to be here awhile."

"How long is awhile?"

"At least overnight, they aren't letting us go home."

"Well we'll just come and pick you up son."

"No Dad, they won't let you."

He heard some muffled talking. He assumed that his dad was talking to his mom. "Dad?"

"Hang on son, your mother wants to talk with you."

"Bradley!"

"Hi Mom."

"Where are you?"

"At the studio still."

"Well when are you going to come home?"

"Tomorrow hopefully."

"Oh Bradley, we're so worried. And you don't even have your favorite pajamas or stuffed animal with you!"

"MOM!"

"What Bradley?"

"Ugh. Never mind."

"Do you at least have someone there to watch you Bradley?"

"Yes Mom. Corny is here."

"Well good."

"Mom, I have to go. We're going down to the shelter now."

"Ok Bradley. I love you, stay safe."

"Iloveyoutoo Mom," he mumbled, he didn't want to say it too loud, he still had his reputation at stake. "You guys be safe too."

"Here's your father."

"Be safe son. "

"You too Dad. I'll talk to you sometime soon."

* * *

Corny stood as Amber dialed the phone. She had gotten a slip of paper out of her purse to find the number. His heart sank as soon as she began dialing. Velma had been gone a month and Amber hadn't called her enough to remember the number. He shook his head.

He could hear the phone ringing against her ear in the silence of the room. They both waited. He began to study her. Her head was slightly cocked as she listened. The desk lamp bathed her in an unearthly glow. Her normally caked on make-up had been wiped clean after the show. It was rare that he got to see her up-close in this way. Her skin was actually a pinkish hue. He could see freckles around her nose. For a second he smiled, until her eyes turned to him. Then she came into full view. Tiny wisps of hair framed her face and he caught himself beginning to pray that Velma would not pick up. He wanted her to see him. See him seeing her. Her eyes moved around his face then down.

He lost himself in the moment. He was mesmerized by her glow. Lord this wasn't what he wanted. He needed to stay distant and cold. Angry with the way she played with his emotions in the past few months. He tried so hard to remain the professional he was, never caring at all on a personal level. He learned with the Brenda deal that playing with fire could get you burnt. No matter how many times these little girls would flirt and flaunt, he would never give in again. Never let himself get into a situation where he was suspect. And he worked at that so hard when it came to this one. Because in the long run, this one was the only girl who didn't flaunt to get his approval. She didn't do things to attract his attention. Yet, his attention she had. Unlike Darla who was childlike and sweet or Tracy who was so much his little sisters, this Von Tussle girl was aloof and removed. She didn't need him, so he craved to see what was under her baked on facade. And when he spoke with her after the contest, when she was the most vulnerable, he saw the real Amber Von Tussle. The small one, the scared one, the one that stood here now. The one he couldn't resist. But when she needed him, she played him like a violin. He didn't appreciate it and vowed to ignore everything he felt about this girl. To ignore this little vixen with all his might.

Now that might was waning away.

His hand lifted to brush a hair away and her eyes lifted to meet his. For one brief moment he thought he felt her shiver. Then the voice broke into his dream.

"Hello?" Velma said loud enough for both to hear.

Amber jumped, "Oh Mother, hello." Her eyes fell to the floor again.

"Darling, where are you?" Velma cried.

"I'm at the studio, we can't get out because of the hurricane." Amber stared straight ahead as if to avoid his glance.

"You have to get down to the shelter! You have to stay there..." Velma's voice raised in panic.

"We're going down right now, Mother. Everyone is going down. We'll be safe there," she replied

"Well do it! Don't just stand there! Go!" Velma screeched.

"Mother! Stop yelling! All right, I'm doing it. Bye!" Amber slammed down the phone and looked to Corny. New fire was in her eyes. "Mother said we have to go," she tried to say softly, "Let's go..." She turned and the moment was lost. He sighed and followed her out the door.


	6. Chapter 6

**_Thanks for the R&Rs everyone. _**

_Uh, Brenda? You know that there's a hurricane coming...right?"_

She shook her head slowly, still hazy with sleep. "What?" Brenda looked up at Paulie, almost having to squint as her eyes landed on his fiery red hair. She felt like she had a hangover; well, what she remembered them to feel like. It'd been almost nine months since her last drink. Unfortunately.

"You'd think that Velma could spring for better seating," she grimaced, talking mostly to herself. She stood up (which was quite a job, seeing as how she had this massive stomach and all) and stretched, her hands reaching up leisurely in the air. Then, just as she was bringing her arms back to her body, her body went rigid. "Did you just say _'hurricane'_?"

…..

Paulie frowned a little as Brenda started talking to herself; was she going crazy? He knew pregnant women were a force to be reckoned with, but no one had ever said anything about them _literally_ going crazy.

"Uh...yeah. Like, right now. It's supposed to be bad. Everyone's going to a shelter. D'you, d'you want me to, uh, help you...get down there?"

Paulie wasn't entirely sure how to approach the situation; Brenda looked far too heavy to be going anywhere by herself, let alone down a set of stairs during a hurricane, so of course the proper thing was for him to assist her there. On the other hand, girls _hated_ for it to be implied in any way whatsoever that they were anything but pencil-thin, and since Brenda could probably just sit on Paulie and suffocate him, well, he was a little scared of her. What if she got mad at him and used her pregnant wrath to destroy him?! Paulie involuntarily shuddered at the thought.

…..

Penny finally managed to find a phone and call her mother. After three endlessly nerve-wracking rings, a shrill voice picked up.

"Penny? Is that you?"

She took a deep breath. "Yes, Mother."

"WHERE ARE YOU? Don't you know there's a hurricane coming?"

"I'm at the station, Mother, don't panic. Corny's still here, and there's probably a shelter in the basement for this kind of thing. I'll be fine."

"The station? Corny?" There was a pause. "Oh. You were with _that boy _again."

Penny sighed. "Yes, Mother."

Prudy's tone turned considerably colder. "All right, then. Are you sure you'll be safe?"

"I'll be safer here than I will be on the road, Mother."

"Fine. Remember to say your Hail Marys."

"I will, Mother. And I'll call you as soon as the storm's over."

"Then I'll speak to you then." There was a click, and Penny worried that the line might have gone dead before she heard the dial tone and sighed again.

"Oh, Mother." She hung up the phone, shook her head, and went to find Seaweed, who was waiting for her in the spot where she'd left him. He saw the expression on her face and smiled sympathetically at her.

"How was it?"

"Oh, same old, same old."

Seaweed put his arm around her shoulders. "C'mon, we should probably get downstairs to the shelter." She nodded, and they headed down to the basement.

…..

Tracy smiled as she noticed Penny and Seaweed. He had his arm around her as they headed towards the basement. She hoped that everyone else safely got down to the shelter as well. She looked up at Link. He had been right about Penny and Seaweed. He looked at her smiling. He had spotted them as well.

"See there they are heading towards the basement."

Tracy nodded as they continued towards the basement themselves. She stopped slightly and Link gave her a questioning look.

"Link I have a question."

"What's the question?"

"How'd Paulie know where the shelter was? I mean I never heard Corny or Mr. Spritzer mention anything about it before."

She gazed into his blue orbs. "Even you didn't exactly know where the shelter was."

…..

Shelley caught sight of Amber and Corny as they exited the office. She had hoped that Amber would say something to him, but from the look on her face, Shelley knew that whatever happened in there didn't make Amber happy. Yet, the anger didn't seem to be shared by Corny, nor did they seem to be going off in different directions. They seemed to be fine with each other, just not fine enough.

Shelley wiped away her last tears, viewed herself in the nearest mirror and made her way to the pair. Amber spoke up

"My mom said that we should go downstairs. "Now!" Amber huffed and continued on.

Phew, Shelley was relieved. Again Mrs. Von Tussle let her baby down. Nothing new, nothing at all. Shelley sighed.

"Come on!" Amber cried as she huffed away.

Shelley put her hand on Corny's arm. "Can I talk to you?" she whispered. "I'll be with you in a sec, Amber!" she shouted after her then looked to Corny. "Please?"

"'Kay, hurry up," they heard as she opened the basement door.

Corny looked at Shelley. For all the pain she had caused the other dancers with her fits of rage, she really turned out to be a decent girl. The one thing he never expected was for this one to stand up for the Von Tussle girl, when he announced that Spritzer put Amber off the show. Her protest made Corny think. Although, Velma had cheated, Amber did nothing. It caused Corny to go and ask Spritzer to let the kid stay.

But it was funny how that didn't change the way Shelley treated Amber, or the others. She remained the snotty, self-centered snob that she had always been. Until that party, that is. Until he announced that he was firing her for that attitude of hers.

*And that kiss from Amber….No he needed to put that out of his mind*

When her mother came in to talk to Corny, to beg for her job, to say how unfair things had been for Shelley for a long time. The best dancer on the show, she was relegated to the back. Shelley lashed out because of it. She would be a good girl, her mother promised. She swore. Corny let her stay on the mother's word.

He also rearranged the show. Shelley led the roll call and gave her the lead in the performances. Amber slipped to the back. Now Shelley could shine. As her mother promised, her attitude changed totally. She began to compliment people and speak nicely to them. Even Amber and Shelley grew close, now able to realize how each had stood for the other. As unbelievable as that closeness was to him. By the time Amber's mother left town, seeking her own future, Shelley cared enough to offer Amber a place to stay and they grew to be inseparable. They seemed to truly care for each other. As distant of a notion as that was to him a year ago, it was a reality now. Now he looked at the girl.

"Corny, I want to tell you," she began, "I just want to say, how sorry I am for the way I acted. And I want to say thank you."

He put his hand up, "There's no need for that Shelley. No need at all."

She looked down, "You have to understand that there's many things you don't know. So much that I need to tell you. Things that are very important for all of us."

"Shelley, anything that you have to say, doesn't need to be said" Corny said with a reassuring smile, "We will be fine, just fine. We'll live to dance another day."

How could she tell him when she promised she wouldn't? She couldn't break Amber's trust, but at the moment, Shelley felt that Amber needed him more than ever. He needed to know. To know what she swore she wouldn't tell him. Her mind swirled. She couldn't find a way, she sighed and threw her hands up.

"Please Corny, please" she cried, "You have to promise me. Swear to me…"

He lifted one eyebrow and looked at her puzzled, "What?"

What could she say? "Just watch her. Please. Just watch her, she needs you to see how much..." No that was saying more than she should, how could she make it clear? "Just watch her, she needs you to."

Shelley turned and ran down the hall following Amber. She couldn't answer any questions and prayed he would understand.

Corny stood and watched her hurry away. The girl was a gigantic puzzle.

…..

Link grinned. He knew that Paulie and Brad were pranksters. They had probably been doing something that neither he nor Tracy would want to know about. Out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw Amber and Shelley coming from the direction of Corny's office. He just shook his head.

_Can't he keep control of himself? Even with Amber and Shelley. I didn't think he even liked them that much_ Link thought to himself. His thoughts were interrupted by a cheerful voice right besides him.

"Look there's Amber and Shelley."

Link nodded. He wiped the nasty images he had from his mind.

"I wonder how they are doing and if they reached their parents," Tracy said.

Link shrugged. He was still amazed at how Tracy could care about someone even though they treated her unfairly.

Her eyes darted around the studio. "I wonder where Corny disappeared to."

"Not sure Trace."

Link looked down at her and grinned. "But I see Brad and IQ not too far away."

"Hey guys! How are you doing?" Tracy said as she saw them.

…..

_"D'you, d'you want me to, uh, help you...get down there?"_

"Oh," Brenda said softly, looking down at her stomach. She glanced up at him quickly; his eyebrows were furrowed in confusion, and his face looked kind of pale, as if he was extremely uncomfortable. The brunette rolled her eyes, shrugging her shoulders. She could probably get down to the shelter without help, being as determined as she is, but she figured that it would be far more entertaining to watch Paulie squirm. "Um, sure. That would be great."

She started following the crowd of panic, taking a few steps before tossing over her shoulder: "Oh, and just so you know; you might have to carry me."

…..

Paulie almost swooned at her last statement. He caught himself; he was a man, after all, so he had to behave very manly, which meant no fainting. He threw out his chest very importantly and strutted cockily towards Brenda like he used to do. Back before she was, well, knocked up.

"Oh, no problem," he lied through his teeth. "I'm...pretty darn strong. I work out, you know. And I eat...fifty raw eggs a day."

…..

Fender opened his eyes, and groaned as the studio gradually stopped spinning.

"Daarrlaa..." he slurred, "I'm cool baby, cool like the wiiiind."

Obviously, Fender hadn't realized that Darla had left his side and had probably already headed towards the shelter.

…..

When Darla realized that Fender was out like a light, she immediately started to panic.

_What am I going to do?! This is NOT good! He can't be passed out during a hurricane! What if the ceiling collapses on us and we DIE?! OhGodohGodohGodohGodohGodohGod_

"Somebody help me, please!" she shouted, getting to her feet and rushing towards the basement to find someone. "Somebody! Paulie, Corny...anybody!"

……

Corny heard Darla cry out for help. He hustled over to her sitting on the floor leaning over Fender. "Oh crap." He thought, this was not what they needed.

"What happened?" he asked as he picked up Fender's limp wrist. Pulse was good. Darla stared at him, with tears running down her face. Suddenly he became much more concerned about the little girl than the kid on the floor.

"Come on Darlin' Darla, don't cry." For a moment, Corny thought that Fender was being a jerk to scare the wits out of the girls, "We'll take care of it. What did he do to you?"

…..


	7. Chapter 7

**_Thanks so much for the R&Rs!!!!_**

Brad turned around and looked at Tracy.

"Oh, fine...I guess. I mean, as fine as you can be in these sort of situations. But who's to say I'm scared? I'm not scared? Why would I be scared?"

"Calm down Brad, she just asked you a question!"

"Fine Tracy, but you know we're in no real danger, they say it's not going to get here for another while anyways."

"How are you guys doing?"

…..

Darla swiped hurriedly at her tears, mentally kicking herself; she always cried when she got upset, and it was an annoying habit that had earned her mean nicknames, the most prominent of them being "crybaby."

"I'm okay," she assured Corny. "I just, I opened up the door and knocked out Fender!" She paused, the irony hitting her. "Why do I always end up knocking people out?!" she blurted in anguish. "I'm cursed! Oh, God, I knew that umbrella would come back to haunt me!"

…..

Link noticed that Brad seemed very unlike himself. But he figured with the hurricane and everything that it was alright to be on the edge. He just hoped that he didn't lose his cool like that. He wanted to be strong for Tracy just in case she needed him.

Tracy smiled at them noticing that Brad seemed nervous. She hoped that by smiling it would help. "I'm glad you're both fine and it is scary knowing that there's a hurricane out there."

She gazed lovingly at Link, who winked at her. She then looked back at Brad and IQ. "At least none of us are alone."

Link felt her hand squeeze his. He looked down at her full of curiosity.

"I thought I heard someone crying," she said.

"You sure it wasn't just the wind or something Trace."

"It didn't sound like the wind."

They heard the building creak. Link looked at Tracy. She stared back at him, fear etched on her face.

"I think we need to go to the shelter now," he told her.

Tracy nodded as she followed him down to the basement.

……

Corny almost giggled.

"Yeah, no umbrella's in the house, no shoes on the table." He grinned down at Darla, "Me Irish Ma taught me that!" He winked and squatted next to Fender. The kid was breathing, the pulse was fine. He ran his hand down the back of Fender's neck. It didn't feel like any vertebrae were out of whack. His hand drifted up to the back of Fender's head. Heat radiated from the lump.

Corny turned to Darla with wide eyes, "How hard did you hit him?" Corny rubbed the golf ball sized knot, "Lady, you have Superman strength!"

…..

Darla smiled; leave it to Corny to make any situation seem much better than it actually was! She felt somewhat relieved as he checked Fender's pulse; Fender would be okay now. Nothing ever went wrong on Corny's watch. Except for, well, Amber's party. But Darla didn't like to think about that.

She blanched when Corny asked how hard she had hit him. Guilt washed over her again. Fender was one of her best friends, like an older brother, and she _hated_ that she had knocked him out during a hurricane. As if slamming into him with a door wasn't bad enough, it was during a _hurricane. _

"Um...I didn't think it was that hard," Darla tried to explain. "I just...the door wouldn't budge, so I pushed a little harder, and next thing I know, he was on the floor!" She bit her lip. "I, is he going to be okay, Corny? Did I hurt him really bad?! God, you're so stupid, Fender, standing against the door!" she snapped suddenly at Fender's inert body.

…..

Corny looked around then back to Darla, "It's gonna be okay, Darla. But really you have to stay calm." Corny balanced Fender's head in one hand as he slipped a sleeve out of his suit coat. He switched hands and the coat slid off. He bundled it and rested Fender's head on the bundle.

"Look Darla, can you run into the kitchen and get some ice out of the ice box? See if you can find a rag to wrap it in. We'll have Fender fixed up in no time." Corny pointed toward the lunchroom at the far end of the studio.

Suddenly a gust of wind made the building creak. They both looked up. "Make it quick, Darlin Darla. Just go!"

……

Darla stared at Corny for a moment. _You want me to run into the kitchen ALONE?! And during THIS?! Um, no, calmness is not happening, Corny. I am NOT gonna be okay._

But she nodded her head as she stood up. "Okay." Trying to ignore the creaks above her, Darla sprinted towards the kitchen. She snatched up a rag lying by the sink (it was still damp from use, but it would just get wet anyway) and rattled around in the icebox. Darla vaguely wished that she had remembered how to use those "Boo-Boo Bunnies" in her junior high Home Economics class, but that wouldn't be a sufficient amount of ice anyway. When she had gathered as much ice as she could into the rag, she darted out of the kitchen and back to Corny.

"Here you go," she said breathlessly, holding out the bundle of ice.

…..

Brad and IQ headed down towards the basement when they heard a groan on the roof. Brad immediately crouched behind IQ, quaking in his shoes.

"What was that?!"

"Brad, would you get off of my shoe please."

"But what was that noise?"

"It was the wind Brad, we're in a hurricane you know."

"Right. It's just a hurricane."

"We'll be fine."

"Right...fine."

A few moments of silence passed between them.

"Hey IQ?"

IQ sighed, sometimes talking to Brad could be so tiring. "What Brad?"

"What if the power goes out? And what if we run out of food? And what if it floods? And what if--"

IQ clamped his hand over Brad's mouth.

"Brad, we're fine. I've told you a million times that we're going to be perfectly fine. This building can withstand a..."

but IQ didn't get a chance to finish his sentence because of a noise he heard.

…..

As they almost reached the shelter Tracy stopped. "What was that?

Link searched around them "That didn't sound good."

Tracy moved closer to him. They were so close that Link could feel her shaking from fright.

"Don't worry doll, your knight in shining armor is here to protect you."

Tracy smiled a little. "What good is my knight when he's shaking as much as I am and has sweaty palms?"

Link quickly let go of Tracy's hand to wipe his on his pants. He then took her hand again.

"I'm not shaking," he said trying to act stronger.

"Link you don't need to act so cool and calm especially around me. I mean we are all scared about what might happen."

Link looked at her and grinned. "I know but it's difficult for me sometimes not to put on the cool act."

Tracy looked up at him with eyes shining and with her free hand rubbed her fingers over his cheek. "It's ok to be scared."

He leaned into her touch. "Thanks Trace. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Give me a kiss and keep a hold of my hand," she answered.

Link leaned over and captured her lips. He then gently squeezed her hand. There was another noise from above.

"I think the quicker we get into the shelter the better," he told her.

Tracy nodded. "Let's get inside then."

They walked in and immediately found Penny and Seaweed.

……

Amber and Shelley walked around the room staring at all the boxes and cans.

"What is all this stuff?" Shelley asked as she tried to read the top of a can.

"I don't know. " Amber said as she pried the top off a can. She looked inside, "Ooooo, candy!" Amber reached inside, picked out a bright pink piece and popped it into her mouth. "Yum! Strawberry!"

Shelley walked over to one of the boxes and opened it. "Oh! Saltines!" She nibbled at one, "Salty! Do you see any cheese in those cans, Amber?"

"No, there's just candy!" She said as she crunched the strawberry piece, "Mmmmm Cherry!" She picked another piece and strolled over to the cracker box.

Shelley opened another box and picked up a band-aid container. She dug through, "This looks like medical supplies. No cheese here!"

Amber spied a book with the Civil Defense symbol on the cover. She fingered through the pages. "Here's our instructions....." Amber said into the air as she leafed through.

"Does it say where to find the cheese?" Shelley said as cracker crumbs flew out of her mouth.

"Oh stop with the cheese!" Amber insisted, "This is serious!"

Shelley shrugged and continued her cheese quest. She found cans of water and spied cots lined up against the wall. Not a cheese could be found. Amber's words interrupted her thoughts.

"Wow, this says that 65 people could come here." She cried, "I wonder if anyone else is coming."

"We don't have near to 65." Shelley said absentmindedly, "That means a whole lot of cheese for all of us....."

Amber threw her eyes up to the ceiling and went back to reading the manual. "This says that we should secure the doors as soon as everyone gets in. We better get everyone downstairs. Come on"

"Hey! I just remembered. There's cheese in the lunchroom!" Shelley exclaimed.

Amber growled at her friend's focus. She hurried up the steps.

"Hey! Wait for ME!" Shelley yelled, tripping over the cracker box, "Amber wait!"

Amber took her hand and they went to find the others.

……

Corny held the ice to Fender's lump. The kid moaned. He hoped Fender would come around quickly, otherwise he would have to be carried downstairs. Corny took Darla's hand and slipped it under the ice.

"Hold that there, okay?" He said as he stood. His eyes searched for something other than his suit coat to prop up Fender's head. As he scanned the room, his eyes fell on Brenda. *BRENDA!* What in the Sam Hill was she doing there? Oh this was all he needed.

Just as his mind began to form a plan to avoid that girl, the lights flashed. Then flashed again. He heard Darla squeal. He opened his mouth to say something reassuring when Robert from the newsroom ran in.

"Corny!" Robert exclaimed then looked down at Fender on the floor, "What's with that kid?"

"We got it handled Robert. What's shakin'?" Corny asked

"Look Man, we have a problem. The electricity is going. I'm sure wires are down all over the city." Robert explained. "We need to get the generator running or we'll be in the dark. Do you know where it is?"

Corny grimaced. Yeah he knew where it was. Brenda knew too. In the back alley where she took him that day. That day he would just as soon forget. He pushed it away and nodded to Robert, "In the back alley by the dumpster."

"Well Old Man, since you know where it is," Robert smiled and slapped Corny on the back, "You're elected. Go start that generator."

Corny looked at him, "You're kidding, right? Out into the storm?"

"Somebody's got to do it." Robert replied, "I don't have a good idea where it is, I mean, I know where the dumpster is, but….." he looked down and whispered, "I got a wife and kids Corny. What would happen to them if….."

Corny knew the man was right. There wasn't a single one of the men there without a family. Only him. He sure wasn't going to send one of the kids out there. They needed the generator started and it needed to happen soon. "Okay Bob, I'm gonna go out there."

"NO! You can't!" Corny looked in the direction of that cry. Amber stood in the doorway, eyes wide open. "No, please…."


	8. Chapter 8

**_Thanks for The R&Rs!!!_**

Darla looked frustratedly at Fender as she held the ice to his lump; the one time he passes out, and it's in during a hurricane! She frantically wracked her mind for information from past health classes that she had long discarded; she thought she had heard that if someone had passed out, you were supposed to raise their feet above their head, but she wasn't entirely sure about that. She was about to slap his cheeks a little when the studio was suddenly plunged in darkness. Darla's breath caught in her throat, and she nearly dropped the ice. The lights came back on as suddenly as they had gone off and then went out again and came back on. She couldn't help but let out a squeal; this was _not_ good.

One of the guys who worked in the newsroom (Darla couldn't remember his name) ran in, calling to Corny and then asking what was wrong with Fender. Darla didn't hear all of their conversation, but she could make out snippets: "...electricity's going...wires down...generator...dark." But the part that she registered the most was, "I'm gonna go out there" from Corny.

Darla dropped the ice just as Amber appeared at the top of the stairs and protested. Darla jumped to her feet and grabbed Corny's arm, as if digging her fingernails into his sleeve would stop him.

"Corny, you can't go out there! It's dangerous! No one's allowed to go! We can manage in the dark! Aren't there candles around here or something? You don't have to risk your life just so that we can _see_!" She whirled around and pointed at Amber, whom she knew would back her up. They had never been close, but Darla felt much closer to everyone in the studio tonight, including Amber Von Tussle. "Amber, tell him! Tell him we don't need the stupid generator!"

……

Becky leaned her back against the wall and allowed herself to slack, her knee caps locking. The bottom of her flats slid across the floor, slowly lowering her shaking body to the floor, before finally collapsing and hugging her knees close to her chest, burying her head between her knees. She ran her hands along the top of her hair, allowing them to continue by rubbing them down her neck, and then slipping her fingers under her jaw bone, and back up to cover her face, only to start the motion again. She repeated this motion several times very quickly before letting her hands slip around her legs. She tilted her head back against the wall, tears beginning to stream wildly down her face as she took deep breaths, attempting to hold them in her chest to keep from full out crying and embarrassing herself. In the back of her mind, words kept ringing; _you're going to die, Becky. The building will collapse and you're going to die. _No matter how hard she tried, the poor girl couldn't keep the words away. Her sobs intensified the more she thought about it. _Die..._

……

Penny shivered; it was cold in the basement, and starting to get damp from all the moisture outside.

She turned to Seaweed. "Do you have any idea what that cheese exchange between Shelley and Amber was about?"

"Don't worry 'bout it, baby. Weather does crazy things to people's heads."

Penny giggled and kissed him on the cheek. "Yeah, you're probably--" She stiffened. A tinny squeaking was coming from the far corner of the shelter. _Oh my God._

"What is it?"

Penny listened carefully. "It's probably nothing." No, wait, there it was again, accompanied by a little skittering sound. Penny's face went cold.

Seaweed was really getting concerned for Penny's mental well-being. "Uh, baby, are you--"

She grabbed the front of his shirt.

"What?"

Penny gulped. "R-r-r-rats."

……

Brad heard Penny say "R-r-r-rats!"

He jumped! "Rats?! Where?! Oh I hate rats!" he hid behind IQ.

IQ sighed. "Brad, this is getting really irritating, will you calm down please? It's just a storm, and it's just ONE little tiny mouse."

Brad looked at IQ blankly "No IQ, it's not just ONE tiny little mouse! It's one GIGANTIC rat! And they spread disease, remember the plague?!"

IQ was dumbfounded "Have you been paying attention in history?"

"Yeah so?"

"Brad, that was a long time ago, the likelihood of the plague being on that one rat is like...1 in a million."

"But how do you know that?"

"Because I do Brad, they don't call me IQ for nothing."

"Oh...right. But still, it COULD be carrying the plague."

IQ stepped into the middle of the room "Would it make you all feel more comfortable if we all trapped the rat?"

…..

They heard Penny shout about rats.

"Rats! Oh no!" Tracy said looking horrified.

"It'll be alright Trace they won't harm you."

"How do you know?" she asked.

Before he could answer Link heard a loud cry from Amber. He looked to Tracy who had her own surprised and saddened expression.

"That certainly wasn't the wind," Tracy said.

Link nodded. "Maybe someone should go see what's happening."

"And I think that person should be me."

Tracy gazed up at him. "Why?"

"It feels like the right thing to do," he answered.

Tracy started to cry. "But I don't want anything to happen to you! It sounds pretty nasty up there."

"I'll be alright Trace besides maybe I can find some rat traps upstairs."

Link wiped away her tears with his thumbs. He then leaned down and captured her lips in a tender kiss.

He smiled at her. "I'll be back before you know it."

"Promise?"

"Promise lil darlin."

Link squeezed Tracy's hand as he walked out of the shelter. When he reached the top he saw Corny standing there talking to some other guy. He was saying something about going out there.

_Is he going out in the storm? That's suicide!_ Link thought.

"WAIT! Corny what are you doing??"

…..

Corny looked past Amber to Link. He was amazed at the concern Amber showed but couldn't focus on it.

"Yeah, well Link," He began, "Someone is needed to be a hero, and I guess I'm elected. Who knew?" he shrugged and detached Darla's fingers from his arm, threw that arm around her and gave a little hug.

"Gotta go Darlin Darla." He smiled, "You're in charge here."

He looked one more time at Link, "Anyone have a rain slicker I can borrow?"

…..

Link stared at Corny. He hadn't always gotten along with his boss but he didn't want him getting killed.

"Corny you can't go out there!"

He suddenly felt a new sense of bravery overcome him. "Or at least you can't go out there yourself. Anyone have two rain slickers?"

…..

Becky erupted from her small lump on the floor. "NO! NO ONE IS GOING ANY WHERE EXCEPT THE STORM SHELTER! God!" She hit her head against the wall before burying it in her knees again and shaking it back and forth slowly.

…..

Darla hated this whole situation, and to make things worse, she was being thrown around like a rag doll. "Do this, do that." Urgh. _Men_. Always having to prove how macho they were while the little ladies had to wait around for the problem to be solved. She couldn't exactly blame Becky for her little outburst; she was feeling the same way.

"Link, stop being stupid!" Darla snapped, shrugging off Corny's arm. Seeing that Corny was resolute, she groaned and walked over to Fender, holding his head carefully as she slipped Corny's suit jacket out from under it. She walked back over to Corny and held it out, feeling somewhat embarrassed after her outburst. "Here," she mumbled, handing it back to Corny. Darla returned to Fender and gently set his head in her lap, pressing the ice back to his head. "Just hurry back so we can do something about Fender."

…..

Corny looked to Link, "You know it's not going to be a picnic out there, kid. I'm serious."

Robert had run off but soon returned with a waterproof jacket and flashlight. He handed them to Corny, who slipped into the jacket and pulled off his tie.

As he flipped the flashlight on and off, he looked again to Link, "I'm not sure that it's a good idea that you're out there. I'm not sure I want to be the one to tell your dad that I took you out there."

…..

Link looked to Becky who was a total mess in his opinion. He then heard Darla and saw that Fender was lying on the floor.

"It may be stupid but I feel it's the right thing to do," he told Darla.

"What happened to Fender??" he asked looking at his friend.

He then looked Corny straight in the eye. "I know Corny and I'm prepared. And you can tell my dad that I volunteered. He'll probably be proud."

He looked to Robert. "Sir, can I have my rain coat and flashlight please?"

"Um why are we going out there anyways?" Link asked.

……

Link had his shallow moments, and he also had his heroic moments. This was one of them.

"If you really feel that way..." Darla looked down at Fender and sighed. "I opened the door and knocked him out. He won't wake up; we'll have to move him if stays this way." She chewed her lip. "Does Tracy know you're going out there, Link?"

…..

Link looked to Fender. "He got knocked out again? Can he catch any breaks? "

He then looked to Darla, his eyes still turned to the floor. "She knows I'm up here but not about me going outside."

…..

IQ stood in the middle of the room.

"Ok, now what do we have to use that we could catch this rat?"

Brad thought a minute, then clicked his fingers when he got an idea.

"Do we have any cheese?"

"Cheese?"

"Yeah, rats and mice like cheese don't they?"

"Well yes Brad, but they prefer peanut butter even more."

"Really?"

"Yes Brad."

"Huh. Well whad'ya know!"

IQ cleared his throat.

"Ok, now that we know what food they like, do we actually have a plan?"

……

Corny couldn't help but feel a swell of pride about Links decision. And pride wasn't the half of it. Corny knew that if something should happen out there, he would be totally alone. No one would come and find him. They would all be sealed into the shelter. Now Link was willing to cover his back.

"Good Man there, Link," Corny grinned, "Proud to be working with you on this mission." He started whistling the "James Bond Theme" as he turned.

"Corny please," Amber said breathlessly, "I really don't want you to do this. Please." She ran to him and stopped short of throwing her arms around him.

Corny saw her shaking. He so wanted to at least give her a small embrace, but not at this point. Time was truly a factor. His eyes sparkled, "Why Miss Von Tussle! If I didn't know better..." He gave a little pinch to her cheek.

"Come on Link," he said as he put the hood up over his head. Let's go."

He sprinted toward the door.


	9. Chapter 9

Link looked back at Corny. He smiled at him. Link felt the adrenaline flowing through his entire body as he took the rain coat and flashlight he found nearby.

As Corny started whistling he laughed a little. He loved James Bond. "Glad to be of help Corny."

He looked to Darla, and Fender. He knew that Darla would take good care of him and that he would be fine. He then glanced at Becky. She should get herself down to the shelter. He then looked at Amber. He thought he detected something in her eyes that he himself had never seen before. The Amber he knew was fearless and cared more about her image than anybody around her. Even when they were dating he knew that being the star couple on the show led each to an advantage. But this Amber was trembling. She looked scared that she might lose something; something that she really well, _loved_. He saw her gaze at Corny and him gaze back.

"Don't worry Amber we'll look out for each other," he told her.

He took one more look towards the basement. "I just hope this doesn't get back to Tracy until we are finished. She'll not be happy with this mission."

He saw Corny sprint towards the door. He put the rain coat on and flipped the hood up over his head. He knew that he was going to need serious amounts of Ultra Clutch once they were finished. But at the moment hair didn't seem as important as staying alive. Once outside, rain flew at him from all angles. He squinted his eyes as to see a few feet in front of him. He held onto the hood as he struggled to stay upright. There were tree branches and other debris everywhere he turned. He knew that by the direction they were going that they were headed towards the generator. He remembered Paulie saying something about them once. Link started to regret his decision a bit. His nerves were getting to him and he began feeling really scared. He wished that he was back inside with Tracy.

"Corny," he said, his voice trembling.

He waited a minute before continuing. "Before we go any further I want to tell you how sorry I am for what happened at Amber's party. I know now that I acted rashly."

…..

Corny wasn't prepared for the wind and driving rain. He held the flashlight as he adjusted his hood again, trying to avoid the rain that felt like needles on his skin. He looked back at Link who struggled to stay upright. Corny barely heard him call his name and apologize for the incident at the party. Rarely was Corny overcome with emotion. He looked at this kid risking life and limb and all the kid could think about was how he wronged him. Corny stopped and took Link by the shoulders. He looked at his face and saw regret.

"It doesn't matter," Corny yelled, "It really doesn't matter. You got my back and I got yours. What went down before this is past. Understand? Now is now."

He turned without waiting for a reaction. He hoped that he made Link feel better. Lord knows, those words of apology sure brightened his spirits. Funny how before this moment, he didn't care at all about what Link thought of that day. It amused Corny to play with Link's emotions in some ways. The kid avoided him after the lecture he gave the following Monday. Corny had toyed with the kid for a while, but now he regretted his actions. Link had always been a good guy, a bit full of himself but weren't they all? Here the kid was showing what he was really made of. Good homegrown Baltimore stock. Corny didn't know why, but pride swelled within him.

He set it in his brain to discuss this with Link when they made it out of this whole mess. IF they made it out of this whole mess. He would tell Link that he was sorry, for being a jerk in the whole thing. Corny had been young and passionate once too. He was still passionate and maybe that was the problem. Corny denied to himself his own feelings, of why he held an animosity toward Link. Link, who danced and sang to Amber Von Tussle. Corny denied those feelings of jealousy at the time, but acted on them in a way an adult should not. Not really forgiving and forgetting. He used the fight as his excuse, but the resentment came long before that. Now it was Corny who was sorry. He prayed they would make it out of this so he could make it clear to the kid who stood by his side now.

Corny spied the dumpster and the generator beside it. "There it is!" he yelled as he pointed.

They fought their way to it and squatted down. Corny unscrewed the lid to the gas tank. It was full to the top. He grinned at Link and have him a thumbs up before searching the side for the prime. The small black bellow was right below the pull. Corny pumped six times just like he used to do when he prepped ships down on the docks. He stood and braced himself the best he could to yank the cord. One pull, two pulls and on the third the engine sputtered then roared.

Corny grinned and looked at Link, "Well that was easy enough!" he shouted, "Went off without a hitch!'

The piece of debris came from no where and smacked Corny solidly on the side of his head. He never knew what hit him. He reeled back against the bricks and slid down the wall.

…..

Link was surprised at Corny taking him by the shoulders but the look on his face said more than words ever could. Corny looked proud of him. A feeling of a sort of brotherly affection filled him as they continued on. He couldn't believe that he allowed his emotions to flow. He wasn't usually like this. He had an image of cool that he showed whenever he was around people save Tracy. She looked through his exterior and saw the real Link Larkin. Even Penny and Seaweed got to see the real guy underneath it all. But by Corny's face he was glad to have let his guard down, to show more of himself. Maybe Tracy was right. He didn't need to put on an act for everyone. The others would probably like seeing him as he really was.

"I understand," he yelled.

He did feel better and he knew that they had each other's backs. He heard Corny say something as they neared the dumpsters. He was pointing or at least Link thought he was pointing. It was kind of hard to see. They reached their destination and Link watched as Corny unscrewed the lid to the gas tank. He grinned slightly as Corny gave him a thumb up sign and when the machine started roaring. Suddenly a piece of debris came flying towards them and hit Corny on the side of his head. He watched as he slid down the wall.

"CORNY!!!!" he yelled.

His mouth was agape as he made his way to Corny. He kneeled next to him. He wasn't exactly sure of what to do as he looked Corny over. As he did so he let go of his flashlight. He picked it back up. He was more nervous and scared than he had ever been before in his life.

"Corny wake up!" he yelled as he shook the hosts shoulders.

As his mind raced he thought of health class. He remembered one lecture where they learned to check pulses. So he grabbed Corny's hand and pressed on the artery with his index and middle finger. He didn't think his pulse was that strong but at _least_ he had a pulse. Link was grateful for that. He knew that he had to get Corny back inside but he couldn't carry him. He needed Corny to wake up.

"Corny, please wake up! We need to get out of here!!" he yelled through the rain and wind.

_Please Corny. You can't die! Not like this!_ He thought.

…..

Corny's brain drifted in and out of reality. At first he thought he was still in the studio, then in his mom's house eating Sunday dinner with IQ and the family. Always there was that splitting pain in his head.

He heard Link yell something but couldn't make it out. The wind whipped around him. It sang in his ears, almost like a lullaby. He tried to focus on Link but the song called to him. Finally he gave in and his body relaxed.

…..

Link panicked when Corny didn't wake up. The wind and the rain seemed to pick up and the wind was really howling.

_Oh man this is bad! We have to get out of here!_ He thought.

Corny wasn't moving so he decided that maybe the best thing was to drag him since he certainly couldn't carry him. He hoped that maybe he'd wake up at some point but he wasn't sure. Dragging wasn't probably the best idea he ever had but it certainly wasn't the worst. They had to get inside before things got worse and they were trapped. Link checked Corny's pulse again before he maneuvered him so that his back was facing Link. Link then put his arms under his armpits and lifted him slightly. He knew from lifting boxes to use his knees when lifting. He still managed to keep hold of his flashlight as he slowly dragged Corny with his shoes scuffing the ground, back towards the door. It took a few minutes and at times the extra weight got to be a little too much and Link had to rest for a few moments. He reached the door and with his foot kicked it open. Holding the door open with his hip, he dragged Corny inside, out of the storm.

He let his hood fall to his shoulders, water dripping off of his head. "PLEASE ANYONE HELP! CORNY IS HURT!"

…..

IQ went upstairs, deciding that he'd leave the rat hunt to the others, he was starting to get worried about Corny. He hadn't seen him in awhile. He was just getting up the stairs when he saw Link bust through the doors, announcing that Corny was hurt.

"What?! He's hurt! What happened? Please tell me my brother is ok! Please tell me nothing is wrong with him Link. Just...please..."

IQ felt his body break down, he crumpled to the floor in a heap and sobbed. He didn't need this to happen, what would he tell his parents? He didn't even call them to tell them that he was still at the studio.

…..

Becky screamed in fright. _Oh, my god, _please_ don't,_ she thought in vain. Her breathing quickened, and she stood up. "Well, just bring him inside. We'll have to do with candles for now, then." She looked over at Fender, her eyes changing so sadness was the main emotion. "One person unconscious is too many. And now," she looked back at Link, and then cried out in distress, "Now, we have two!" She sighed. "IQ, help Link get Corny inside. And watch his head. Could you do that, please?"

…..

**Link **

Link sat down placing Corny's head gently in his lap. He breathed heavily. Dragging Corny used more energy than he would have thought.

He looked to IQ who was crumpled on the floor sobbing. "Some debris hit him on the side of his head. He's still breathing which is a good sign."

He heard Becky but didn't know what else to say.

**Tracy **

Back in the shelter Tracy was pacing around nervously.

_Link should have been back by now. What if something terrible has happened? And what about the others that are still up there?_ She thought.

She should have never allowed Link to leave the shelter or at least leave the shelter without her. They had just begun to date practically and she didn't want anything bad to happen to him now. A tear slid down her pink cheeks at the thought. Brushing the tear away she dismissed the thought and stopped pacing, her eyes filled with a newfound determination.

"Can't we do anything besides sit in this shelter!?" she exclaimed.

…..

Darla

Darla sat stock-still, unable to move or even to think. Irony was playing a cruel, cruel joke.

First Corny was knocked out at a party, courtesy of Bix, Link and Fender, and it was her fault then. Fender got knocked out here, which was her fault again, and now Corny was out, and Link was the one carrying him in. She watched without really registering as there was a hustle and bustle over Corny's inert body. She hesitated. Should she go help him? Or should she stay with Fender? She wavered between the two. Darla spotted that one man from the newsroom--what was his name, Bob?--and shouted out to him.

"Hey, mister, can you come here for a minute?!"

Bob, or the man she thought was called Bob, looked startled, glanced worriedly over at Corny, decided that he was in good hands, and approached the teenager. "What is it, honey?"

"Can you watch him for a minute?" she asked, indicating Fender. "I'll be right back, I just want to check on Corny. Please?" As she said this, she gently slipped Fender's head off of her lap and crossed his arms underneath his head so that it was still raised. Without giving Bob time to reply, she jumped to her feet and hurried to Link, kneeling beside him. "What happened?" she asked nervously. She spied a red head over in the corner, relief flooding her. "Paulie!" she shouted. "Come over here! Please!"

Paulie

Paulie hesitated for a moment. While Brenda had been taking her good, sweet time (he supposed she couldn't help it, being pregnant and all), Paulie had debated as to whether or not he should go help someone else. Okay, well, mostly Darla. He didn't want to be rude and leave Brenda to walk down all those stairs by herself, but, well, this seemed a _tad_ more important.

"Sorry, Brenda, but I gotta go," he said quickly, hurrying over to the center of commotion. "What the heck happened? Can I do anything?" he asked, unconsciously interlacing Darla's hand in his own.

…..

It seemed like forever that Amber and Shelley sat by the door. Amber still couldn't believe that Corny had done this. How could this be?

Shelley hugged Amber as she cried. "What if he dies?" Amber whispered as her knees shook. "What if something happens to him? There were so many things I wanted to say, but couldn't. I just couldn't...."

"It's going to be okay." Shelley said trying to be brave, "Link is if anything happens. He'll save him."

"But what if something happens to Link too!!!" she cried with wide eyes, "That's it! I'm going out there! Where are my boots?" Amber scrambled to the vanities. She frantically searched for her rain boots then turned to the wardrobe and her raincoat.

"What in the world are you doing?" Shelley screamed as she ran to Amber, "Are you nuts? They're Big strong men and you weight what? Ninety pounds? The wind will take you before you can help anyone. Don't be stupid Amber Leigh Von Tussle!" She said as she tried to snatch her arm.

Suddenly the door flew open. Link was yollering for help. Corny was hurt.


	10. Chapter 10

**_Geez this has been too long since the last chapter. Sorry everyone but Merry Christmas and I hope to get it all in today._**

Amber didn't take the time to switch back to her shoe and ran across the studio in one stiletto heel and one rain boot. A moan escaped her when she saw him. Her knees buckled and she sat down hard. Her fingers shook as she reached out to the purple lump, covered in blood on the side of his head. She was in too much shock to cry.

Shelley leaned down, "Maybe some mouth to mouth would help?" she said trying to make light of the situation, but then she saw the look on Amber's face. This was no time for humor. "My First Aid class said to elevate his feet and apply pressure to the wound." She said growing serious, "Can someone get us some ice and the first aid kit? And call an ambulance?" Shelley was trying to take charge.

"Phones are dead." Bob called from his place by Fender.

Shelley looked down at Amber again, "It's okay, it'll all be okay." she whispered, "Where's that ICE!!" she screamed as she stuffed Corny's wet raincoat under his knees.

…..

IQ looked at Corny passed out on the floor. He saw Link panting under the weight of his limp body. IQ couldn't think for once in his life. He knew he needed to help, but he just couldn't. He was under so much panic, so much strain. And to top it off, Fender was still passed out. What was going to happen next in this crazy storm?

…..

Shelley noticed no reaction to her strong request for ice or the first aid kit. Everyone seemed to be in a daze.

"Snap out of it people!!!" she bellowed, "This is Corny we're talking about here. You know? The one watching over us? IQ, get me some ICE!! Hop to it, it's your brother for Pete's sake!!!"

She hoped her harsh words would bring him back to reality.

…..

IQ felt like he was in a fog. He heard voices off in the distance, something about getting ice. He didn't know how he made it, his legs felt like jello as they carried him to the kitchen where he grabbed the towel that was sitting out on the counter. He reached into the freezer and groped around for ice cubes. The cold numbed him even more. He couldn't believe what was happening. Corny was hurt, and he needed to be there for him. He wanted to protect him. He felt that he owed it to Corny. All those times that Corny had protected him. Corny was more than just a big brother to him, he was his lifesaver.

…..

Darla turned to Paulie. "I'm going to go help IQ get the ice. Can you go lift up Fender's legs like they're doing with Corny? It might wake him up."

Paulie nodded and, without thinking, kissed her on the cheek before going over to Fender and shrugging off his jacket. He wadded it up and put it under his knees.

"Listen, kid, I've gotta go," Bob (or was it Rob?) said hurriedly, making a dash for the newsroom now that his charge was attended to by someone else.

Paulie picked up a wet dishcloth; it had once held ice, but the ice had melted. Paulie blotted Fender's with it. "Come on, Fender, wake up," he muttered.

Meanwhile, Darla sprinted into the kitchen, nearly running straight into IQ.

"Sorry!" she apologized, snatching up another dishrag and filling it with ice. "I can't believe this is happening. Are you okay?" It was a stupid question, given the circumstances, but it was a distraction.

…..

Darla bit her lip. "Well, besides the hurricane outside and the fact that one of my best friends and my boss are both knocked out...I'd say I'm okay." She filled the rag to its fullest and secured it. "I just hope we wake the both of them up before anything happens. Well, I'm going to take this out to Fender," she said, indicating the dishcloth. "You'd better get that out to Corny; his head looks nasty." Darla hurried from the room, her concern for Fender overpowering her slight guilt for leaving IQ alone.

"How's he doing?" she asked Paulie somewhat rhetorically.

"Same as before," Paulie replied, watching in interest as Darla pressed the ice to his head.

"Can you lift his legs a little higher, please?" Darla asked.

"Sure," Paulie responded, reaching down awkwardly and elevating Fender's legs a little bit higher.

…..

Link saw Amber fly to Corny's side. Her genuine reaction surprised him a bit but then he remembered how she had reacted when they were about to go outside. He saw the fear and worry in her eyes. He felt bad for her. He knew that if he was in her place and it was Tracy lying unconscious he would feel the same way as she did at that moment. When Shelley mentioned elevating his feet he slipped out of his rain coat without moving too much.

He held it out to her. "Here, you can use this if he needs it."

He was pleasantly surprised to see everyone there jump into action. When Shelley shouted about ice he jumped. He glanced over and saw Fender still unconscious too. He hoped that both of them woke up soon. He looked back to Corny and gasped as he saw that the area where he was hit. It looked nasty. It was the first time he really looked at the wound and his concern for Corny grew. He wondered where the ice was.

…..

IQ watched as Darla left the kitchen and then shook himself out of his daze. He had to get this ice to Corny. If this was the last thing he was going to do. Corny needed him right now. He marched back out into the room, his chest puffed up, he was going to be a hero.

"Here's the ice. How's he holding..."

IQ looked at the gash in Corny's head and then fainted, he was always a very squeamish person.

…..

Link turned as he heard IQ. He was glad that he was bringing some ice. IQ was about to ask how Corny was doing when he fainted. Link couldn't help but shake his head. IQ had always been squeamish.

"Not IQ too!" he said.

Link wondered if he should go help him and leave Corny with Amber and Shelley but then he saw Paulie march to his side.

…..

IQ felt hands on his face. He sat up with a start and looked around.

"What's that? What's going on?"

He looked over at Corny and then remembered. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was ok...really, just a little blood, no big deal. He felt his stomach churn and he ran to the nearest trash can and threw up. Returning a few minutes later, looking pale.

"Sorry about that guys. Here's the ice pack, now what can I do?"

…..

Link looked at IQ again before taking the ice. He did not look well. "Um IQ I think you should sit down before you faint again."

He thought he felt Corny move and immediately cast his eyes down to him. He placed the ice on the wound as best he could. He then noticed that some of the blood from the wound had gotten on his pants.

"Great," he muttered. He then realized that he shouldn't say that. His boss was lying in his lap, possibly on the edge of death. He did a mental slap and concentrated on holding the ice.

…..

Corny heard voices. They seemed to be far away. Then he felt a cold pressure on his head. Reality started to set in. He opened his eyes slightly and saw the face above him. Was it her?

"Amber..." he whispered, his voice barely audible.

She turned and his mind focused on the red hair. Shelley. She was yelling directions that hurt his head. He looked around and realized he was warm and dry back in the studio. Then he saw Link above him. He wasn't sure what had happened, but no matter the circumstances, he understood that Link got him here. He gave the kid a weak smile.

"How does it feel to be the hero, kid?"

Shelley looked down at him. "Corny, you have to hold still. You got hit by something and I'm not sure if there's a fracture or not."

Corny tried to smile, "Nurse Shelley, what's my prognosis?"

"There's a lot of blood." Shelley replied in a calm voice. "If we can't stop it, something will have to be done."

His eyes grew wide, "Like what?"

She looked down. "Something."

Corny knew Shelley's father was a doctor. Medical people had medical families. They knew what to do in a crisis. But he wasn't sure he was ready to put his fate into the hands of this teenager. Her words interrupted his thoughts.

"First, I think we need to get all of these people downstairs." Shelley commanded, "With enough people to carry, anything can be done. Link, I need you to get the cots downstairs organized. Amber.....Amber!!!"

Amber's eyes were lost and vacant. They turned to Shelley.

"Amber!" Shelley shook her shoulder.

The clouds cleared from her eyes and she finally reacted, "What?" Amber said softly.

"You support Corny's head so Link can do what he needs to do. Come on..."

Amber looked to Corny then looked away. She was having problems with the amount of blood seeping from the wound. But she knew she had to be brave. She scooted over as Link moved.

With his head resting on her skirts, he saw the pain in her eyes. A tear ran down her cheek and she brushed it away. Nothing but concern showed in those eyes.

"It's okay," Corny said, "Don't worry."

She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. She nodded and looked away.

…..

Link heard a small voice not more than a whisper. He looked down surprised and relieved to see that Corny was awake and talking. "CORNY YOU'RE ALIVE!" He wanted to hug him but that would've been so out of character for him. He looked around to see what the others were doing and to gauge any reactions they had to his outburst.

Link looked down at Corny again when heard him ask a question about being a hero.

He shrugged. "I was just trying to save both our lives."

Shelley started talking about fractures. He hadn't really thought of anything being broken. He had taken a real risk by dragging Corny inside. He probably had a few new bruises because of that. Link himself probably had a few bruises but at the moment he didn't care. He was just glad that Corny was awake. Now if only Fender would wake up as well. He turned as Shelley said something to him about cots. He was about to ask if they' d be alright when Amber gently took Corny's head and placed it on her lap. He moved slightly so she could do so more comfortably. He was still in awe over Amber's reaction. He even started to feel a slight sadness for everything. He stood up finding that he was still shaky from everything that had transpired. He didn't think that he should leave them with Corny by themselves but Shelley seemed to know what she was doing, after all her father was a doctor; she had to know something.

He took one last look at Corny. "I'll go get the cots organized."

He was happy to help and with that he turned to go downstairs. He was still shaky as he made his way to the stairs. His thoughts turned to who was down in the shelter, one person in particular invaded his thoughts.

_Tracy! I hope she's not too upset when she finds out what has happened!_ He thought.


	11. Chapter 11

When Link reached the bottom of the stairs he took a minute to compose himself. He didn't know what to expect when he walked through the shelter door but he knew that the first person he'd see was Tracy. He continued towards the shelter door. When he got to the door he turned the handle.

On the other side Tracy was about ready to go upstairs and find out what was happening. She turned to the door and was about to open the door when it sprung open. Tracy smiled.

"LINK!" she said as she flew into his arms.

Link took a step back as to not fall over. He smiled as he hugged her back.

"What happened up there? Why'd you take so long? I was so worried," she said as she held onto him tight.

Link didn't like that he had worried her but he relished the feel of being in her arms. When they parted she looked him over as to assess whether he was hurt or anything.

She noticed the blood stain on his pants. "Link! Are you hurt? Why is there blood on your pants?"

Link watched her panicked reaction to the blood. "It's not mine Trace, its Corny's."

"Corny's? Why is Corny's blood on your pants!?"

Link rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, we sort of went outside to start the generators and he got hit in the head by a piece of debris."

"Corny took you out in that storm!?" Tracy exclaimed.

"He didn't exactly take me, I volunteered."

She had an incredulous expression on her face. "You what! Why?"

"He was going to go out there by himself and I couldn't let him do that."

She cupped his cheek and gazed up at him. "Oh Link what if you both had gotten hurt out there?"

"But we didn't. I was able to drag him inside," he told her. He looked a little ashamed as he stared into those bright beautiful brown eyes. What if he had been hurt too? No one else was out there with them. Tracy or Amber might have come looking for them but they could have been too late.

"Where is Corny now? Is he alright?" she asked.

"Amber and Shelley are taking care of him and he's awake which is good. Darla and Paulie are with Fender who is unconscious. And IQ is up there. He fainted when he saw the blood."

"Fender went out too?" she inquired.

"No, he was knocked out upstairs," he replied.

"Why aren't you still up there?"

"Is IQ alright?"

"Shelley told me to organize cots so we could get them down here and I think so."

Tracy smiled. "I'll help you."

"Thanks doll, I really appreciate it."

Link grasped her shoulders trying to steady himself.

Tracy's eyes widened with fear. "Link! Are you ok?"

"I'm just a little tired Trace."

"Maybe you should sit down for a minute," she told him.

He allowed her to lead him to a nearby cot. She sat besides him, watching him to make sure he was alright.

…..

Paulie glanced around, looked down at Fender, and then looked at Darla. "I don't think he's waking up anytime soon, Darla. We need to get everyone downstairs; Link is organizing the cots. We'll just have to move Fender. Can you get the First-Aid kit? I'll get someone to help me move Fender."

Darla nodded. "Of course."

Paulie helped Darla up and, after watching her run to the kitchen for what had to be the millionth time that night, turned to the others. He cleared his throat and said in a carrying voice, "Guys--and, uh, gals--we really, really need to get down to the shelter. We'll have to carry Corny and Fender downstairs. Link is setting up the cots and Darla's getting a First-Aid Kit. So, uh, who's gonna carry Corny with me?"

…..

IQ sat on the ground with his legs crossed and his head in hands and taking deep breaths. He didn't want to pass out again. He heard Corny stir. IQ wanted to jump up and run to him, he couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy that Link was by his side right now, and that he went out in the storm with him. After all, he was his brother. But he tried to push away those feelings. He saw Link talk softly to him and then go down the stairs to set up cots.

Paulie then made another announcement needing help.

"I can help you Paulie. What can I do?"

He puffed out his chest again, he wanted to prove that he could be a hero too.

…..

Becky continued to shake as she moved towards the storm shelter. She stopped at the top of the stairs. "Um, guys? Did we ever take care of that rat?" She went towards her mirror at the dressing table. "Because if we're bringing unconscious people, a sick kid, and a bunch of jumpy teenagers into a small, enclosed area, I don't think now is the time for rats.

…..

Shelley hadn't ordered anyone around for a while but it seemed to come back when she needed it.

"Okay, Paulie and IQ you get Fender downstairs." she said as she took the first aid kit from Darla. "And then Corny will need to be moved after that. Where's Seaweed?"

Amber looked up at her, "I think he is down finding that rat or whatever it is...." she seemed to say into the air.

"Oh yeah, I forgot." Shelley shivered at the thought of vermin in the basement. Then she snapped back to attention and focused on the real problem. "You guys hurry up with Fender." she said as she began to cut medical tape into butterfly bandages. She looked to Corny. "Let me try this. Hopefully the bleeding will stop."

Corny looked at her, "Or what?"

"We'll see." Shelley said as she pressed the cut and applied the first strip.

…..

Paulie

On the count of three, Paulie and IQ carefully lifted Fender up and cautiously walked down the stairs. They were strong enough from all the dancing they did, but they were also wiry. Fender was heavy and they didn't want to drop him.

"Link, are those cots ready?" Paulie hollered down the stairs; he was holding up Fender's upper body and was going down backwards.

Darla

Darla watched in fascination as Shelley worked on Corny. She had never seen something like this before; she was torn between being grossed out and being fascinated.

"Where did you learn to do that?" she asked in awe, impressed that someone was so cool-headed around such a nasty injury. If it had been Darla in Shelley's place, she would have barfed; she had barely managed to dissect a pig in Biology last year

…..

After a couple minutes Link felt that he could get up. He looked to Tracy and smiled.

"I think I'll be alright now."

"You sure?"

Link nodded. He got up slowly. They found the cots and quickly organized a few for Corny, Fender and IQ if he needed it.

"Are these going to be sturdy enough you think? Tracy asked looking at them.

"I think so."

She gazed at him. "Now what can we do?"

"Will they be able to get everyone down here. Someone could go up there?" she added.

Link shrugged. He knew that this time Tracy wouldn't let him go up there alone. "Maybe we should go upstairs and see."

Tracy nodded. He took her hand as he led the way back upstairs. He hoped that Corny was still awake and that Fender and IQ were still ok. Tracy wanted them to get them downstairs where it was safer. He looked back at Tracy and grinned. She was amazing. He was glad he was walking a little steadier. They stopped as they heard Paulie shout from the stairs.

"They are ready," he shouted to Paulie.

As they saw Paulie, IQ and Fender Tracy gasped at the sight. Fender was unconscious but she wasn't expecting what she saw. She was glad to see IQ was at least awake and unharmed.

"Do you guys need anymore help getting Fender downstairs?" Link and Tracy practically said in unison.

…..

IQ strained under Fender's weight, he was going to prove how strong he really was. He didn't want everyone thinking he was weak.

"Yeah..." he puffed "I think we're..."

IQ felt his foot catch on his shoestring and he felt his balance wobble.

"Uh-oh..."

…..

Seaweed doggedly opened another box and dug through it. "Somebody must have known that if they put all this food down here, rats were gonna show up," he muttered. "There's gotta be a mousetrap in here _somewhere._"

"Just hurry," Penny whimpered. "I _hate _rats."

Seaweed didn't reply; he did, however, find a box of Twinkies. "Man, these Twinkies are old." Curious, he pulled one out and bit into it. "Damn, and still good. They really _do_ last forever."

"SEAWEED!"

"Okay, okay." He put the Twinkie down and kept digging. After a few minutes of silence, Penny spoke up again, in a quavering voice.

"S-S-Seaweed..."

"I'm going as fast as I can."

"No, Seaweed. _L-look._"

Seaweed huffed and turned around... staring into the face of the biggest rat he'd ever seen. _Damn, I've seen dogs smaller than that._

Penny finally got enough breath to work up a good, earsplitting scream.

…..

"Whoa!" Paulie exclaimed as IQ nearly toppled over and, at the same moment, Penny screamed. Some omnipotent force was working against Paulie, he just knew it. They froze for a moment, Fender still suspended between them. Paulie sighed in relief when nothing further happened. "Hey, fellas, lend a hand, will you? We're bringing Fender down now and we're gonna get Corny in a minute. Link, are the cots ready?"

…..

Tracy and Link sprung to action looking to see how they could help. They moved closer to the stairs. Tracy stood on one side while Link stood on the other.

Link heard Paulie's question. "The cots are ready."

They waited to see if there was anything they could do.

…..

Brenda felt like she should be panicking, but she wasn't. She just felt nauseous. Glancing at Tracy and Link, she couldn't help but notice that they were staring eagerly in her direction, reminding her vaguely of a couple of do-gooder Cub Scouts. "Um, how long are we supposed to be down here, exactly?"

…..

IQ looked at Paulie and went crimson at the cheeks.

"Sorry, you know how clumsy I am. I'm surprised I'm still on this show."

…..

Link and Tracy watched as Paulie and IQ carried Fender to the cot. They followed just in case they needed any help.

When Paulie asked if anyone wanted to help Link knew that he had to do it. He did a lot already but he felt that there was still so much to do.

"Paulie, I'll help," he said.

Tracy looked to Paulie. "Can I help too?"


	12. Chapter 12

_**Sorry this has been a while but I'm having so many problems with uploading. Hopefully I can get this going again.**_

Corny beamed at Tracy. He always liked that girl. She had a spunk that couldn't be matched and lit a room like the night lights of Baltimore. He smiled at her weakly.

Suddenly they heard a gust of wind like no other. The lights flicked out. All the girls screamed. Like clockwork, the generator did it's job and the lights, including the emergency lights at the bottom of each wall kicked on. Corny looked at Link. Job well done!

Corny looked at Shelley, "You better get those boys to hurry, Nurse Shelley. Sounds like a house is about to drop on us."

Shelley waved the guys over, "Hurry!" she said as they got under his arms.

Shelley grabbed Amber by the arm, "Let's go Sissy. You're needed down there."

…..

When Tracy asked if she could help, Paulie nodded, smiling. "Of course. Come on."

Paulie led the way up the stairs and over to Corny. Darla beamed at his arrival, but before he could return the gesture, there was a powerful gust of wind. The lights flickered out and Darla screamed; surely the building would collapse over their heads! She let out a gasp when someone wrapped an arm around her waist and lifted her up, but she realized it was Paulie as the lights kicked on.

"You need to get down there_, now_," Paulie said emphatically.

Darla nodded and scurried down the stairs, trembling the entire way down.

Paulie, on Shelley's orders, got Corny under his arms and lifted him up. It was easier with the other fellas helping, but Paulie still wasn't looking forward to carrying a grown man down those stairs during this storm. He heard another gust of wind. "Come on, gang, let's pick up the pace!"

And with that, they followed Shelley down the stairs and into the shelter below.

…..

Tracy gasped again when she saw Corny's wound but grinned back at him when he smiled. Link smiled a little when he was told they had done a job well done.

"You were the one who got it to work Corny."

Then Paulie said that Tracy could help. Along with Link she went to Corny's side and picked him up. Following Paulie's lead they carefully headed down the stairs.

…..

Corny smiled the best he could muster at Tracy. She and Link were great in a crisis, no doubt about that. As they brought him upright, the room swirled. He fought to stay awake. As manly as possible, but he felt himself losing it as they made their way down.

Shelley pulled Amber over to the vanities and called for Becky. "Come on girls, let's grab what we can use." She looked to Amber. Her skirt was stained with blood. Oh that wasn't good. It looked like an awful lot. She scurried over to the wardrobe and tossed her a new dress. She grabbed Link's spare trousers and threw them at Becky. She took the blanket at the bottom, grabbed a sewing kit, the first aid kit, and then had a thought.

"Amber, where is that Brandy?" she asked searching Amber's drawers.

"Huh?" Amber said, still slightly dazed.

"The Brandy that we snitched from your mother's office. The one you told her was gone."

"Bottom drawer."

Shelley pulled the drawer, and moving aside the fan letters, found the bottle. "Great!" she said to herself.

Becky's eyes grew wide.

"Let's go girls." Shelley said. She hesitated for a second and grabbed a can of Ultra-clutch as she turned followed by Becky and Amber. Down the steps, everything seemed to be in great shape. Guys on cots, kids milling around and going through boxes. Perfect.

"Hey Link!" Shelley shouted out. Link looked up. "Here ya go Hero boy." She tossed him the can of Ultra-clutch and he smiled.

She made her way over to Corny. Amber stood next to him, but in the shadows, back to the group as she slipped into the clean dress. Shelley looked down at him. Blood still oozed out of the cut. She had never asked her father how much blood a person can lose before bleeding to death, but she knew that if he continued to bleed until they were rescued, it didn't look good. And head wounds bled a lot. Shelley's thoughts drifted to Thanksgiving. Every year Dad laced up the turkey after it was stuffed.

"Here kids," he would say, "let me show you this one. These are the same knots I use to suture a wound...." he would work his art then hand the poultry needle to one of the children.

Each of them tried it. Shelley had done it a few times. However, there was a lot of difference between a cold, dead turkey, and the very alive Corny Collins. She only hesitated a second, then knew what she had to do. She looked down at him.

"Corny, here drink this.." she said as she handed him the bottle.

"Hey, that's Velma's brand. Where did you get this?" he asked as he tipped the bottle to his lips.

Shelley thought a minute, afraid they would get in trouble, but decided that she didn't care at the moment. "Amber took it when she cleaned out her mother's office. We were saving it for a rainy day. Guess this is it."

He nodded and swigged. Her face grew serious. "Corny, we have a problem." He looked at her, "The bleeding from that cut is bad. Even the bandages are helping. You need stitches."

He stopped drinking for a moment, "And..."

"And you need them." she said with a sigh. "You need them and I've done them so we need to do this."

He seemed to panic. "When? In Girl Scouts? At ballet camp? When?"

"Just last year. My dad taught me." She left out the part about the turkey.

Corny bolted up. "Oh no I don't think so!" he tried to make it off the cot, but wavered just a moment. His eyes rolled back into his head and he fell back on the cot.

Amber rushed to his side. She looked from Shelley to Corny then back again.

"Well that makes things a whole lot easier." Shelley said calmly. "Amber, I'm going to need you to take these swabs and keep clearing the blood from his wound. I need to see what I'm doing."

Amber knew Shelley could handle anything. She had seen it many a time. This was going to get done. Amber pulled a box up next to Corny and sat to dab the blood.

"Anyone have a Zippo?" Shelley called out. She wasn't sure which direction it came from but it landed at her feet. She picked it up, grabbed a needle from the sewing kit, threaded it then ran the needle through the flame of the Zippo. Sterilized and ready, she took a deep breath and began her work.

It was twelve stitches later that she cut the thread. The bleeding had stopped. Amber handed her a few squares of cotton and the tape. It didn't stick well in his hair.

"Amber, you're going to have to keep your hand here." She took her hand and placed it on the bandage. "I need a break." Shelley stood, quite proud of herself. and walked to the huge tin of candy. She popped one into her mouth and smiled.

Amber looked at him. Why couldn't she be braver? If she just told him how she actually felt, then no matter what he said, she could get on with her life. She sighed and put her head on his chest. All the emotions of the day overcame her. She closed her eyes and fell asleep.

…..

Link was stunned when Shelley said his name and then she threw him a can of Ultra Clutch. He smiled at her. At the sight of the Ultra Clutch he instinctively ran his hand threw his hair. It was still damp and he thought that it must have looked like a real mess.

Tracy was trying not to giggle when he glanced at her. "Well, you did say that we have enough Ultra Clutch here to keep our 'do's looking like new."

He ran his hand through his hair again. "It must look like a disaster."

He put his finger on the sprayer and aimed it at his head.

Tracy placed her hand on his arm. "Don't, I think it makes you look more like _you_. The _you_ I have come to love dearly."

Link grinned as he captured her lips. He loved her too. He had a glimpse of her hair. It looked like it could use some hairspray as well. He then came out of his daze and remembered everything that was happening. Hair wasn't as important as two bodies on cots, one unconscious and the other bleeding. His thoughts turned to something Shelley called him.

"Hero boy?" he asked. He wondered if that would be a new nickname for him. He didn't think of himself as a hero though. He was just trying to keep both he and Corny alive.

Tracy smiled at him. "You did save Corny."

Link nodded. "I did but he could have died if I hadn't gotten him inside."

Together they watched as Shelley tried her hand at medicine. Corny's wound looked horrible. They hoped that Shelley knew what she was doing and that the stitches worked. He was equally stunned when Amber helped. She looked exhausted from the night's events. She laid her head on Corny and was fast asleep. Tracy thought that Amber's hand might slip since she was asleep so she decided to keep an eye on the bandage just in case. Seeing that her hand was still in place she, along with Link turned to the other invalid.

"How's Fender?" Tracy asked.

Link was going to ask but she beat him to it. He stood besides Tracy awaiting an answer.

…..

After setting Corny down on the cot, Paulie headed over to where Darla was kneeling beside Fender's cot, watching him worriedly. She managed to smile at Paulie as he sat beside her. Her small hand threaded through his own.

"You okay?" he asked, knowing that she, like everyone else, had to be extremely shaken up over the events of the evening.

Darla shrugged. "I've been better, but things could be a lot worse. Paulie, you, you were wonderful up there. You managed to get everyone down here safely, and you even got two unconscious people down here! It, it was really brave of you."

Paulie also shrugged, coloring up a little bit. "I just did what needed to be done. Shelley did a lot, too, you know, and so did Link and--"

"Stop being so modest," Darla interrupted, smiling. She shifted until she was sitting fully on the ground, her crinolines causing her dress to poof out around her. She nodded her head towards where Corny, Amber and Shelley were resting. "Do you think Corny's okay?"

Paulie shrugged. "I don't know that I'd trust just a kid to poke a needle in _me_, but Shelley _looked_ like she knew what she was doing."

They were quiet for a moment as they watched Amber rest her head on Corny's chest; it had been a rough night for all of them.

"Well, who would've thought?" Darla asked softly, smiling a little. Suddenly exhausted from everything that had happened that night, she closed her eyes and rested her head on Paulie's shoulder. Her eyes shot open, however, when she heard a squeaking and a rustling behind her. "Paulie?"

"Yeah?" he asked, wondering why she had suddenly turned tense.

"When you and Brad came down here in the past...were there ever rats here?"

"Um...sometimes."

Darla shrieked as one of the furry creatures streaked by her leg, rustling her skirt, and she leapt to her feet. "RAT! GET IT, GET IT! SOMEBODY GET THE RAT!"

…..

Tracy jumped behind Link, holding tightly to his shoulders. Link couldn't believe that after all that they had seen that night with Corny's wound, Fender unconscious and IQ looking green around the edges that Tracy and Darla would be frightened by the small creature.

"Where's the rat!?" she exclaimed.

Link glanced from Darla to over his shoulder at Tracy. "Calm down girls, the rat won't eat you."

"They might!" Tracy said.

"I thought you were going to find some rat traps while you were upstairs."

"Sorry lil darlin I got distracted."

Tracy knew he had more important things on his mind but at that moment she hoped someone would take that rat elsewhere. She thought that Darla, and Penny probably felt the same.

…..

Darla jumped onto a cot when Tracy suggested that the rats might eat them.

"I do not want to be eaten! Somebody kill it, now! I mean, aren't boys supposed to be _brave_ or something?!"

"Well, what do you want me to get 'em with?" Paulie asked wearily; it was amazing that after being trapped in a studio and tending to one unconscious person and an injured man, the girls were afraid of something as trivial as a _rat. _

"I dunno...your shoe, maybe?" Darla suggested, squeaking as the rat scurried under her cot.

"Darla, Tracy, it'll be fine," Paulie sighed, sharing a look with Link. "It's just a rat. Think of it as a hamster."

"Hamsters don't try to eat you!" Darla protested. "Hamsters sleep and smell like woodchips and run on their little wheels and eat treats and are cuddly. Rats smell like sewage and they try to eat you!"

"No, they don't," Paulie assured her. "I've been down here tons of times, and they've never bothered me. Just get down from the cot, Darla, and it'll go away after a little bit."

"I am not getting down until that thing is caught and killed!" Darla said firmly. "I want to keep my feet, thank you very much."

"Darla--"

"Kill it and I'll get down!"

Paulie sighed and turned to the guys. "Anyone know where we can find a shoebox?"


	13. Chapter 13

Link looked at Paulie. He couldn't believe how ridiculous the girls were being. It was a rat for goodness sakes, not Norman Bates with a knife.

"Let me see if I can find a shoebox," he said.

Tracy looked at him. She didn't want him to leave her so she decided to stick with him. He moved through the boxes, a little slower because of Tracy.

"Trace, it'd be easier if you didn't have a death grip on my shoulders."

She loosened her grip on his shoulders. "Sorry Link."

He grinned at her to show her that he wasn't mad. "Want to help?"

She nodded and soon Link found a shoebox. It was in a box that was marked "Amber". Perhaps it was some old things of hers that Mrs. Von Tussle put down here for storage. It had an old teddy bear and shoes. He didn't want to stay thinking about it for too long though it was strange to find some of Amber's old things in the shelter.

He grabbed the shoebox. "Found one."

He headed back to where Darla and Paulie were. Tracy followed closely behind.

He looked on the floor and thought he saw a tail. "Maybe we can capture it using cheese?"

Tracy saw the tail and shrieked as Darla had done moments earlier. She grabbed on to Links shoulders again.

…..

While Link and Tracy went in search of a shoebox, Paulie tried to convince Darla to get off the cot.

"Please?"

"No."

"Darla, it's just a rat."

Darla shuddered at the mere mention of the creature. "Paulie, I will come down when the rat is caught. Until then, I am staying here."

Paulie was relieved when Link announced that he had found a shoebox; one step closer to calming the girls down. Scratch that; Tracy shrieked as she saw the rat's tail, causing Darla to screech as well. Paulie clamped his hands over his ears; he was going to be deaf by the end of the night.

"I'll go get the cheese; I think I know how to get the rat. Darla, just...stay there," Paulie said, retrieving the cheese from where Shelley had found it earlier.

Darla gave him a look when he told her to stay put; that was her intention all along.

"I think I know what to do," Paulie continued. He took the shoebox from Link and propped it up using the lid. He put the cheese underneath it, forming a very crude sort of trap.

"Why does it have to be under _me_?!" Darla cried apprehensively.

"Because it likes your cot," Paulie answered.

Darla blanched at this news.

"Now, when the rat comes to get the cheese, we have to knock down the box and trap it. Can you do that, Darla?"

Darla shook her head vehemently. "No. Nononononono. What if it gets my hand? I don't think so."

Paulie rolled his eyes. "Fine, _I'll_ do it." He glanced over at where Tracy was still clutching onto Link. "Don't worry; we'll get the rat."

…..

Link grimaced slightly under the pain of having Tracy clutch at him. Secretly he liked being there and being her savior. But he didn't understand the nails digging into flesh idea she had. He almost dropped the box as Darla screeched but managed to hand it to Paulie before it hit the ground.

Paulie looked to him for help since Darla was still on the cot afraid of the rat beneath her.

He turned to look at Tracy. She allowed herself to loosen her grip slightly as he moved. "Would you like to stay here while I go help Paulie?"

Tracy nodded, but kept her eye on the cot just in case. She wondered if it would hold both her and Darla if it was needed.

Link kissed her cheek. "It'll be fine just watch."

Tracy wasn't sure as she watched him go to Paulie. He stopped just short of him waiting to see if the rat went for the cheese.

…..

Paulie was on all fours, holding his shoe and waiting by the cot for the rat. Judging by his silence, he could tell that Link was probably waiting too. Darla, still perched overhead, the hem of her skirt and crinolines just spilling over the edge of the cot, was staring down at the shoebox. Paulie had removed his shoe to knock down the box, and if that didn't work, he would just attack the poor rat.

Then they heard it. The squeaking. Darla made an eeping noise, but before she could move, Paulie waved at her to stop. "_Don't...move_!" he hissed, poising his shoe over the shoebox. He shot out his hand and knocked down the shoebox.

Darla shrieked. Tracy might have shrieked, too, but since Darla was _right in Paulie's ear_, he only heard her. The rat, unfortunately, scrabbled away and missed the shoebox by inches. Paulie slammed his shoe down sporadically, trying to hit the rat. Each of his missed hits elicited a shriek from Darla, who was now squirming on the cot.

"I can't...get...it! AAARGH!" Paulie growled, unable to hit the rat. "Link, gimme a hand, will ya? Darla, that's my e_ar."_

…..

Link watched as Paulie was down on all fours waiting for the rat. Tracy still hid behind Link so she peeked over his shoulder every few minutes to see what was happening. They heard a sound that sounded like feet scraping on the floor and then a squeak. Tracy shrieked as she buried her head into Link's shoulder.

"Get it Paulie!" she yelled, though she wasn't sure if he heard her over Darla.

Link had jumped when Tracy shrieked. He then saw that Paulie was trying to hit the rat with his shoe. He then heard Paulie say "gimme a hand." Link took off his shoe which was difficult with Tracy holding on still. He then had another idea.

"Hey Paulie, instead of beating it with your shoe why don't we just try to push it into the shoebox then take it away?"

"Link, will that work?" Tracy asked with a shaky voice.

He shrugged. "It could be worth a try."

….

Paulie nodded at Link's suggestion. It was probably better this way; there would be a lot less of a mess. He put his shoe back on and grabbed the shoebox and its lid. Paulie chased the rat around for a few more minutes and finally managed to scoop it up in the box and shove the lid on it. He felt and heard it crawling around frantically as he raised it up.

"Oh, get it out, get it out!" Darla begged; it appeared that although the rat was caught, she was not setting foot on the floor until it was completely out of the basement.

"Okay," Paulie said, sharing a significant look with Link. "I'll get it out." He made as if to walk towards the stairs, paused, and then thrust the box in Darla's face for a moment. She shrieked loudly and, upon realizing it was just a joke, glared. She yanked off her shoe and began smacking Paulie with it.

"Ow, ow, ow!" Paulie yelped. "I was just joking, Darla! Just trying to lighten the mood!"

"It wasn't funny!" Darla protested. "Paulie, please, get that rat _out_ of here!"

"Okay, okay," Paulie muttered, carrying the box upstairs. He left it at the top of the stairs and descended them again. "There. Gone now. Okay?"

Darla hesitated before slowly shifting so that she was sitting on the cot, her feet resting on the floor. Paulie grinned, pleased with himself, and pulled up the cot beside her. "Well, looks like we're stuck here for awhile; might as well pull up a cot."

…..

Link was glad that he the idea had worked but he cringed as Darla shrieked again. He would be glad when the rat was gone.

Once Paulie had returned saying that the rat was gone Tracy sighed happy that the rat was gone. She moved so she was standing next to Link.

She looked up at him. "Sorry I got so frightened. Did I hurt you?"

He reached over and rubbed his shoulder. "I'll be fine."

"Are you going to be alright now Trace?"

"I think so, but we still have a long night ahead of us and Fender is still unconscious and Corny's still hurt. At least IQ isn't hurt nor the others."

Tracy looked over to Fender then Corny. Amber was still asleep, and holding onto the bandage.

Link grinned at her. "I'm glad. Let's sit down and relax. I don't think neither Paulie nor I can take any more shrieking at the moment."

They found a cot and sat next to each other. Tracy started rubbing his sore shoulder which Link had to admit felt pretty good. He leaned over and brushed his lips over hers.

"Thanks doll."

Tracy smiled. She could only imagine what would happen next.

…..

While Tracy and Link set up their cots, Paulie scooted his so that it was flush against Darla's and put his arm around her. She settled comfortably into the crook of his arm, relaxing now that there was nothing else to frighten her. Oh, there were the occasional gusts of wind, but Darla knew that they would be safe in the shelter. She noticed Link and Tracy cuddling and smiled.

"Look," she murmured, nodding her head towards them.

Paulie smiled. "Leave it to Larkin to find time during a hurricane."

…..

Paulie woke up after sleeping for who-knows-how-long; it could have been a few seconds or it could have been hours. He tried to move his left arm and found he couldn't. Upon closer inspection, he realized that his arm was around Darla's shoulders and since they were leaning against a wall, she had pinned his arm behind her. She was fast asleep.

Paulie's stomach rumbled. He pressed his right hand against it, trying to muffle the noise. They hadn't had dinner yet, given the status quo, and his stomach was forcefully reminding him that it was empty. He wanted to go in search of food, but he didn't want to wake up Darla, and he would have to do that to get up. He spied Brad and IQ, both of whom were talking quietly together on their cots.

"Hey, guys," he said carefully, trying not to wake anyone up. "Can you go look for some food? I know Shelley found some earlier, it's around here someplace."

…..

It had been a long day for everyone, and IQ and Brad where just settling down to take a bit of a rest when he heard Paulie ask if they could look for food. Brad sighed and grumbled.

"Why do I have to do all the dirty work?"

IQ glared at him.

"You do all the dirty work? You hardly do any work Brad!"

"That's true."

"Come on, we're all hungry and we need to find something soon before we all get even crabbier than we already are. And besides, I don't want any of us turning into cannibals."

Brad looked at him strangely.

"Cannibals? I think you've been spending too much time around me man. You're starting to sound like me."

"What?"

"Yeah."

IQ shook his head to get the picture of his head. That was a very scary thought indeed.

"Come on, lets go see what we can find over near those shelves."


	14. Chapter 14

Link heard Paulie and chuckled at what he said. Tracy laid her head on Link's shoulder as they cuddled. She attempted to stiffen a yawn but Link caught her. He couldn't help but smile even though the noises outside made him nervous. He just held on tighter to her.

"Tired Trace?"

She yawned again.

"Maybe we should lie down?" Link suggested.

Tracy was nervous by his suggestion. She had never down anything like that with any guy, let alone Link Larkin. He looked down at her and saw her hesitancy.

"Just to rest our heads. I'll be the perfect gentleman, like I told my mom earlier."

Tracy nodded. She knew that he would be too. She lay down and Link lay next to her. Her head rested on his shoulder (the one she didn't grab at with the rat) and soon both were fast asleep.

Some time later Tracy awoke, her stomach was rumbling. She couldn't remember the last time she ate. She thought it was the snack her mother made for her that she ate before the show. She heard voices and the mention of food. She tried to move but she found Links arm protectively wrapped around her. He was still asleep. She looked at him and grinned. He was even more adorable looking. He moved slightly then pulled her closer to him.

…..

Brad and IQ fumbled over to the shelves in the corner. They were dusty and covered with cobwebs.

"Gee" said Brad "I wonder when the last time someone cleaned these shelves."

"It was probably the same time that you last cleaned your room."

Brad through IQ a furtive look.

"Come on, we're all starving, lets see what we can find alright?"

They started combing over the shelves glancing in boxes that were hastily folded shut and then shoved on the shelves.

Brad looked up to the top shelf and saw a box that looked somewhat promising.

"Hey IQ, I'm going to climb up this shelf to grab that box up there." He pointed to the box.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea Brad, you could fall and get yourself hurt. And goodness knows we already have enough hurt people."

"Nothing's going to happen IQ."

"I think you're wrong Brad."

"Yeah? Well just watch me."

Brad started to climb the shelf like a monkey.

"See IQ...ain't nothing to..."

Suddenly the shelf started to sway and slowly gave way to Brad's weight and came toppling over on top of Brad.

"BRAD!"

…..

Paulie's hopes to keep Darla asleep were dashed when he heard a loud crashing noise. She bolted upright.

"What was that?"

"I dunno," Paulie said truthfully, sitting up as well. His left arm was falling asleep and tingled when he moved it, but he ignored it; that had sounded serious. "I'm gonna go check it out." He got up and walked cautiously towards the general direction of the noise. "Uh, guys? Everything okay?" He stopped short as he found the source of the noise. "Oh, God..."

…..

Tracy heard a crash and bolted upright. Link did the same.

She looked at him wide eyed. "What was that!?"

"I'm not sure." His face showed a similar expression.

"I hope no one else got hurt," Tracy said.

"I hope they didn't either."

Their eyes searched the room until they fell upon the cause of the noise. They saw IQ and a pile of hair that looked like Brads.

"Brad Oh No! Link exclaimed.

Tracy was both tired and shocked. "Brad are you ok!?"

…..

"KILL IT! KILL IT!"

"I'M TRYING, I'M TRYING!"

"Well, I don't think it's working," Penny snapped, "because IT'S STILL ALIVE!"

"Penny, I've been going after this god-awful-big rodent with a bag of Cheetos for the past twenty minutes," Seaweed huffed. "Obviously, something needs to change." Suddenly, he heard voices outside the door. "Hey, I think everybody else is down here now."

"That's great, Seaweed," Penny said, panicked, from her near-fetal position in the corner. "Go and get somebody to GET THIS RAT!"

"I'm going, okay? You just gonna stay there?"

"I'm not moving."

Seaweed sighed. "Okay, then," he muttered as he headed out to the main area of the shelter.

"Hey, guys? We, uh, got ourselves a rodent problem in there," he called out, pointing back into the storage room.

…..

"PAULIEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Paulie winced. "Uh, yeah, Darla?"

"THERE'S ANOTHER RAT DOWN HERE!"

Paulie closed his eyes and counted to ten. When he had calmed down, he sighed. "I'll be back in a minute, fellas," he apologized, looking nervously at Brad before heading towards Darla. She was kneeling on the cot again, looking terrified. "Where's the rat, Darla?"

"Seaweed says there's a rodent problem in the storage room!" she exclaimed. "Oh, please kill it!"

Paulie sighed again. "Okay. Well, Brad's hurt--"

"Are you serious?!" She gaped at him. "Why can't anything go _right_ tonight?!"

"I don't know," Paulie said seriously. "But it'll get better, I promise. Darla, can you go help--"

"Paulie, there's a rat!" Darla whined.

"In the storage room!" Paulie reminded her.

She bit her lip. "Promise you won't let it out?"

"I promise," Paulie vowed. "Now, can you go help Brad? I'll go get another rat." He turned and followed Seaweed into the storage room. "Have you tried using your shoe yet?"

Darla scurried to where Brad had fallen and gasped, putting a hand to her mouth. "Oh my God..."

…..

Seaweed sighed and shook his head. "Man, you couldn't break this rat's _leg_ with a shoe. Y'all think you got a rat in there? This thing could be its granddaddy."

…..

Paulie stopped short. That didn't sound good at all.

"Well, it had Darla and Tracy flipping out," he said defensively. "What have you tried so far? You got a shoebox? We found an old one of Amber's and now the other rat's sitting in it upstairs.

…..

"We might need something bigger than a shoebox for this thing." Seaweed thought for a minute. "Hey, you got a sturdy coat? I have an idea."

…..

IQ stood with mouth agape, the dust was still settling. He looked from Brad to Darla and back to Brad.

"I warned him not to climb the shelves, but did he listen? No! Darla, do you think you can try to help me lift up these shelves? We need to get him out from under here as quickly as possible."

…..

IQ looked at Darla. He was trying not to loose his cool, he had already lost it with Corny, and he really didn't need to loose it now with Brad.

"Here. Take my jacket, and place it under his head, and hold it there while we take him to a cot. Are you ok with this?"

…..

Darla followed IQ's instructions, not sure of how to handle the situation, and after some struggling (Brad was _far_ too heavy), they managed to lay Brad down on the nearest cot. He needed to have his head examined, but Darla wasn't really sure of how to check someone for head wounds, and Shelley, the expert in that kind of thing, was still asleep. Darla clasped her hands in front of her, her fingers hooking and unhooking nervously.

"Um, is there anything I can do, IQ?"

…..

IQ sat down on the cot next to Brad and put his head in his hands. He felt the tears start to break and he started to sob uncontrollably.

"I don't know Darla. I just don't know."

…..

Darla felt her heart break for poor IQ. He had always been one of the sweetest guys on the Council; he had never joined in the pervy jokes with the other boys and he had always been a favorite of the girls. Darla sat beside him on the cot and rubbed his back.

"Shh, shh, it's okay," she said softly, trying to comfort the poor guy. "We'll get through this, IQ, it's okay."

…..

IQ felt his body calm a little bit as Darla rubbed his back. He leaned his head on her shoulder.

"Thanks Darla. Oh goodness! I'm getting your dress all tear stained! I'm sorry!"

…..

Darla

Darla shrugged, smiling a little bit. "I don't care; I look like a mess anyway. You've had a rough day; you go ahead and let it out." She rested her head on his own head, continuing the stroking of his back. He reminded her of one of her brothers, actually.

Paulie

"Hold on, I think we have a rain slicker, actually," Paulie suddenly remembered. "I'll go get it!" he added to Seaweed, jogging out to the main room. He stopped short as he saw IQ and Darla on a cot, IQ with his head on her shoulder and Darla with her head on his.

_No_.

Paulie and Darla were one step away from going steady. They weren't an _official_ couple yet, but they had been on enough dates to the point where none of the other guys would ask out Darla because she was considered Paulie's girl. He had been sweet on her for _ages_, and now...now she was with _IQ_?! What about Tammy?! What about _him_?

"Anyone wanna explain to me what's going on?"


	15. Chapter 15

* * *

Link and Tracy looked towards Brad and IQ, wondering what to do next. Then they heard Penny, Seaweed and Darla.

"Another rat!" Tracy exclaimed.

"Not another rat!" Link groaned.

Paulie went after the rat. Link didn't know if he should follow or not. Between Seaweed and Paulie he thought that the situation was well handled. He looked towards Tracy, who was afraid of another rat being around. He could tell that her fingers were inching towards his shoulder again.

"Why don't we go check on Brad?" Link suggested, not wanting to have anything to do with another rat if he could help it.

Tracy nodded and they walked over to where he was. They just watched as Brad was being cared for. Both felt helpless as the others sprung into action. Tracy noticed IQ start sobbing. "Look," she said quietly to Link.

He turned his head and saw Darla comforting poor IQ. He couldn't believe that Brad was now injured as well. Tracy looked up at him, sadness filling her eyes. "First Fender, then Corny, now Brad and not to mention those rats, what's gonna happen next?"

He looked into her eyes. He felt like he had been through a war. "Not sure, li'l darlin."

Both Link and Tracy jumped slightly when they heard Paulie ask Darla and IQ to explain what was going on. Link didn't think he ever saw Paulie like this before. He seemed jealous. Paulie hardly ever got jealous over girls, at least, in his opinion. Tracy thought that Paulie's reaction was kind of cute. She could really tell in that moment that he liked Darla.

* * *

IQ looked up at Paulie and pulled away from Darla. "Nothing, she's just comforting me is all. I'm taking this really hard is all. Is this a problem for you or something?"

Darla knew that look on Paulie's face; she had seen it enough at Amber's party. She quickly slid her arm off of IQ and jumped to her feet. "Paulie, honest, it's not what you think--"

But Paulie wasn't about to hear it; that was the classic line that all chicks used in the movies. He was too hurt by Darla to try and talk to her; it would just hurt him more. He was mad at IQ and he wanted to get rid of these stupid emotions that were a mixture of anger, jealousy and pain. He ignored her, turning to IQ.

"You might've been able to get away with that while Brad was conscious, but now that your friend isn't awake to save you, I don't know that I'd be messing around with other guys' girls, man. Not so smart, are you, IQ?"

Darla quickly slipped in between them, putting two placatory hands on his chest. "Paulie, please, it wasn't like that at all. IQ was just--"

Paulie stepped away, her hands sliding off of him. His eyes were concentrated glaringly at IQ's own narrowed ones. "You could've at least acted like a man and _not_ snuck around behind my back."

IQ stood up. He was a little bit shorter than Paulie but that didn't make him any less tough.

"Look man, Darla walked in and found Brad on the ground and helped me lift a shelf off of him and then helped me carry him out here. I meant nothing by this. Just take a chill pill, all right? I know we're all stressed out about this storm, and Corny is out, and Fender is out and now Brad, and I don't want you to put me out, and I don't want to put you out, okay? Really man, I meant no harm by this. Darla just happened to be here, and a friend to me, which I could really use right now, because if you didn't notice, my best friend and my BROTHER are out cold!"

IQ left Paulie in a huff and went over to the corner to sit down and think.

* * *

Shelley heard the crash, but just couldn't get her eyes open yet. However the clouds cleared quickly when she heard the tiff between Paulie and IQ. She stood as IQ yelled at Paulie. She was shocked to hear that Brad was out too. Can any of these guys just light someplace and stay out of trouble?

She spied Brad abandoned on one of the cots. She ran over to him. The lump on his head was evident too. Ice was out, it was still upstairs. She walked over and picked up one of the cans of water. She felt the bottom. It was chilly and would have to do.

"IQ, I need you over here." She set the can on the lump. Hopefully, it would be cold enough to bring down the swelling. If not, she had no clue what could be done for him.

* * *

Tracy started to get cold so she decided to see if she could find a blanket or something. She remembered that Link had found the box with Amber's things in it. She slipped away from all of the drama between Paulie and IQ. Link was immersed in what was happening that he failed to notice. She walked over to the box and shuffled things around in it, searching for the blanket. She found shoes and dresses and a teddy bear. The teddy bear looked worn and one eye was dangling out of socket. She picked it up. She wondered who gave Amber the bear; was it Velma? Or maybe even Mr. Von Tussle before he had died?

As she moved it away from the box a small book fell out from his back into the box. Putting the teddy bear down, Tracy retrieved the book. It was dusty so she wiped away the dust. She gasped as she read the front cover. It said "The Diary of Amber Von Tussle." Tracy was curious but didn't know if she should open it. She had decided not to when a gust of wind from somewhere threw open the pages. She read a few words before closing it again. Her eyes widened as she read the words. She turned back to where the cots were, forgoing the blanket.

Link looked to where Tracy was but he found her to be missing. He looked around worriedly but smiled as he saw her coming towards him. She appeared to have a small book in her hand. He met her halfway.

"Link, I found something that I know I shouldn't have read, but it flew open and I read a few pages and.."

"What did you find doll?"

"Amber's diary!"

"What! She has a diary?"

"And you should see who's in it," Tracy said.

Link led Tracy back to the cots they were using. They checked to see if Amber was looking at them. She wasn't. Tracy handed him the diary. He read the page that she had seen. "I knew it!" he said.

* * *

Darla's eyes hadn't left Paulie the entire time. She felt them begin to sting; was she really crying? Probably; she had been crying on and off tonight. "Paulie..." He finally looked at her. The look in his eyes made her almost draw back a step and made the stinging in her eyes even worse. But she swallowed and went on anyway. "Paulie, I promise, IQ and I...it was just like he said. We didn't, we would never..."

Paulie held up a hand to stop her. "I don't, I don't want to hear it. Just..." He sighed. "Darla, if you like another guy, that's...that's okay with me. I just...I just wish you could've told me. I understand. I do," he said, more to convince himself than her. She opened her mouth to protest, but he shook his head. "I get it, okay? I won't hit him. I'm gonna go help Seaweed again, okay?"

"Paulie, please," Darla exclaimed, trying to grab his arm as he picked up a rain slicker. He dodged her.

"No, Darla," he said softly, walking back into the storage room.

She swiped at the hot tears coming out of her eyes. "You louse!" she shouted at his retreating back. And with that, she dropped onto her cot and tried to fight off the sobs she could feel coming, muffling her sniffles.

* * *

Doreen was curled up in a corner, clutching a candle and trembling as the wind howled outside. There was definitely _something_ lurking around, as she felt that Brad, Corny and Fender being unconscious was definitely no coincidence. Every little noise she heard sent her heart thumping manically, and she almost shot up through the roof when someone tapped her on the shoulder and whispered her name.

Doreen's breath caught in her throat and all the blood drained her face when she saw Fender standing in front of her, plain as day.

"FENDER!" she shrieked, "You came back to life!"

"Uh...Doreen, I didn't die."

Doreen raised one eyebrow in disbelief. Whatever. People just didn't collapse like that. But then again, this _was_ Fender.

"What do you want, Fender?"

Fender narrowed his eyebrows menacingly.

"To eliminate the competition for Shelley. Now we're all close together and vulnerable, it should be a _piece of cake."_

* * *

Amber heard the crash, but her eyes were still heavy and her pillow was so warm she couldn't lift her head. She shifted and heard a moan. Finally the fog cleared from her mind. That wasn't a pillow, it was breathing! She slowly lifted her lids as she realized where she rested. Her gaze focused on the eyes staring back at her.

"You okay?" Corny asked as his hand rested on her shoulder.

"Yes," she replied without moving. "But how are you?"

"Never better," he wanted to say. Instead he smiled at her and rested his head back.

She didn't want to lose the feeling that she had. The years of wanting and wishing suddenly seemed to conclude in this moment. Or maybe she was imagining it. She blinked hard then opened her eyes again. No, he was there. She sighed. They sat that way for a while, neither of them wanting to move, enjoying the feeling between them without words.

Corny's mind drifted, back to the party and the events afterward. He wasn't sure why she looked at him this way. Suspicion crept into his mind. What she could possibly want of him now? With his head splitting and a hurricane bearing down on them, he couldn't trust himself, let alone her. Best to ignore all of it, before he got smacked down again. Finally, he decided to sit up and he winced. He touched the newly sutured wound on the side of his head, "Ow, man that stings." He grinned at her, "That's what I get..." He stopped and listened into the air. A fight was ensuing on the other side of the room. His brother was in trouble. He struggled to get off the cot, "Help me up! I've got to get to IQ."

She got under his arm and pulled him up. His head was spinning but he focused on his brother.

* * *

Shelley looked down at IQ, "Just hold that can there for a few minutes and let's see what happens. It might be cold enough to bring the swelling down..." He seemed to be handling the task well. Although Shelley concluded it wasn't that hard. Shelley stared hard at Paulie. To her, what went on between Darla and IQ was no big deal. After all, they were all in this together. Shelley thought that Paulie had always been nice but could get a little rough. Jealousy seems to come in at the worst time. She shook her head and grabbed the next can on the floor. She felt it, took the can IQ was holding and gave him the new cold one.

Suddenly she spied Corny approaching. "Hmmm, well it looks like I did a pretty good job," she said half to herself.

IQ looked up in shock as Corny and Amber approached. "What's the shouting about, IQ?"

* * *

Tracy looked at Link. "You knew!?"

"I've had my suspicions, especially after seeing Amber's reactions tonight."

"So what are we going to do with the diary?" Tracy asked.

"I'm not sure. It's strange that it's even down here."

Tracy nodded. "Yeah, most girls keep their diaries under their pillow or in their desk."

"Do you?"

"Link, we're not discussing me at the moment. We are discussing what we should do about Amber's diary." He was a little disappointed. He was curious to see what she wrote in hers.

He looked to where Corny was. He seemed to be moving. Link was happy to see that. "Should we show it to Corny?"

Tracy saw his eyes and followed his line of sight, smiling at Corny moving. "It's Amber's private thoughts. So I'm not sure that would be a good thing to do. Maybe we should just give it back to Amber; it is hers," she added.

Link shrugged. His gaze fell to his blood stained pants. He wished he had grabbed the extra pair he had upstairs. "It's up to you, Trace."

Tracy thought for a moment then grinned up at Link. "Although after having seen what we have seen we could try to help push them in the right direction."

He gazed into her eyes. A flicker of light passed through them. "What are you talking about?"

She looked in their direction. "Perhaps all they need is a little persuasion."

Link stared at her wondering what she had in mind.


	16. Chapter 16

* * *

Tracy looked back at him. "Okay, this is my idea. I think that you should take Amber aside and talk to her about Corny."

"Me?"

"Yes, you guys have a shared history…"

He looked a little surprised. "Trace..."

She cupped his cheek. "And it's okay. I mean, that was before and it's part of who you are today."

"You are part of who I am today," he told her affectionately.

Tracy smiled as her lips brushed his.

"But what would I say?"

"You're Link Larkin. I'm sure you'll think of something."

He grinned knowing that she was probably right. He stood. Tracy was right next to him. She wanted to see how Corny was doing. Together they walked over to where Corny and Amber were. Tracy slipped him the diary before they reached them. He hid it under his shirt as he walked over to Amber. "Um, Amber, could I talk to you for a moment?"

Amber gave a puzzled look, "Oh! Yeah, sure, I guess."

Amber and Link had kind of avoided each other since the pageant. She wasn't sure what this was about, but he and Tracy smiled at her. She looked up at Corny, leaned him against a wall and followed Link.

Corny watched them. He began to say something but Tracy stepping in front of him. His eyes caught hers. "How are you holding up, Trace? You're not too mad at me about letting Link go out in that storm, are you?"

* * *

"I mean, I just don't _get_ it," Paulie sighed to Seaweed, whom he had been babbling to for awhile now. "It's just...I really thought we had something, y'know? I thought that maybe she was the one. I've liked her for God knows how long, and I guess if this is really what she wants, then I'll let her go, but it still hurts. I mean, I can't believe it's come to this. We just...there was this _connection_, you know? Like with you and Penny. And..._IQ_, of all people! I could've understood if she went back to Mikey or something, but I always thought IQ liked Tammy! And his head was on her _shoulder_!"

He peered over at Seaweed, who had remained silent and stone-faced the entire time. "Seaweed? Are you even listening to me? Seaweed!"

* * *

Link rubbed his hand through his hair and looked back at Tracy. She smiled at him encouragingly. He grinned at her and led Amber to a quiet corner. He knew that they hadn't really spoken much lately but after everything that he had witnessed that night, he felt a new sense of sympathy towards her. Maybe she had really changed since the pageant. He looked at her. "Amber, I know that we aren't exactly friends, and that while we were dating it was only because we were both the lead dancers on the show. We never really loved each other while we were dating. Not like how I love Tracy. Our relationship was just for show. I've noticed something tonight that you may not be aware of yourself." He shifted his weight. "You like Corny, don't you? I mean, it's all right. Corny's a great guy. I see him as an idol even though I got all jealous of him at your party, which I now regret. Anyways, I saw how scared you were when I dragged him in from the storm. And how you look at him even now, you should tell him how you feel. Who knows; he might feel the same towards you."

He looked to Corny and Tracy. She was telling him something. He then looked back to Amber. "What I'm saying really is that when we dated we were never truly happy together. I found my happiness with Tracy, and I think it's time you found yours."

* * *

Tracy smiled at Corny. "I'm doing all right, though I hope there are no more rats. I'm just glad to see you upright. You looked horrible when you were brought down here. I was a little mad when Link told me, but knowing that Link saved you makes me love him even more. Strange as that may sound. You two were very lucky. How are you feeling Corny?"

* * *

_"Are you even listening to me?"_

Seaweed rolled his eyes. "You wanna know what I think, Paulie? I think you're an _idiot. _Nothing happened; IQ was over there bawling his eyes out and Darla was just being a good friend. Now let's go catch this rat before it bites somebody, okay?"

* * *

Amber laughed nervously and shook her head, "Oh, Link!" she giggled, covering her cheeks, "How could you ever think such a thing? Of course every one of us loves Corny! He like a big brother to all of us! I mean look at the way he treated Tracy and got her on the show. Even when she was, well..." she looked down, feeling more uncomfortable by the second, "let's say, not like the rest of us. And he let me stay on the show. And Shelley, he let Shelley stay even after my party. He's a swell person, you know Link, just swell and well really....." her voice trailed off as she realized how much she was babbling. She looked into his eyes. Even though their relationship had been convenience for both of them, they spent tons of time together. She knew him.

And he knew her. He knew when she had secrets to tell.

She looked down again, trying to come up with something else to say, but nothing came to her mind, "Link. I, um....I...."

Link brought the diary from behind his back and presented it to her. She felt her heart drop. Truth be told, there was nothing more to hide. She looked up at him again. "Who else knows about this, Link?" she asked with quiet resolve.

Amber's eyes told him a lot. He couldn't believe how much a girl's eyes conveyed. Even with Tracy he could just look in her eyes and know what she was thinking. He could tell that there was more than she was saying, so he produced the diary. He wasn't surprised by her reaction. Link looked from the diary to Amber. "Just Tracy. She found it in an old box of your things."

Amber looked at Tracy standing with Corny. Her heart skipped a beat. "Link! Please don't tell me that she's telling him!!!" she begged. "What is she doing over there? What is she saying?"

Link looked to Tracy and Corny then back at Amber who had a look of pleading in her eyes. "She just wanted to see how he was feeling, that's all. We didn't think it was our place to tell Corny anything that you've written. Amber why is your diary down here, anyways? Don't girls keep it hidden in their bedroom?"

Amber sighed. "I brought them here when my mother went through my room. She wouldn't let me care too much about anything but her." Tears formed in her eyes as she gently caressed the bear. "This was my Daddy's when he was a little boy. I snatched it from the trash. Mother threw it away when he died, but I pulled it out and hid it." She brushed a tear away as she lifted up the worn pink slippers, "These were my first toe shoes. I wore them the first time I went on point. My teacher told Mother how proud she was that I had done it at ten, mother didn't care at all." She looked down. "And my diary. I put it away after that party. I did a horrible thing and acted just like my mother. I played him, Link. For a job for my mother, for Shelley to stay on the show, I played him....."

She didn't know why she was pouring her heart out to Link. Maybe it was that she had been close to him once, or maybe it was the kindness in his eyes now. She broke down and covered her face. "I'm so ashamed of the way I acted. I know he hates me. He told me in a letter. He'll hate me forever...." She sobbed.

* * *

Paulie was dumbstruck. This was not how he wanted this conversation to go at _all_. As he followed Seaweed around the storage room, holding the rain slicker, he kept babbling.

"But, Seaweed, you just don't understand...I mean, okay, say you walk in on Penny and Duane with their arms all around each other and she's resting her head on him. Not that you would ever do that, Penny," Paulie added to the girl, not wanting to offend her. "I'm just saying, I--" he trailed off as something caught his gaze. "Hey, Seaweed? You see that trickle of water over there?" He swallowed. "I think it's flooding outside. God, we're lucky we're in here."

Penny scooted over a little to avoid the little stream coming down the wall. When she was satisfied with her position, she noticed the raincoat Seaweed was holding. "What are you doing with that?"

"We're gonna catch the rat."

Penny looked dubious. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Seaweed snapped. "Now shhh. It should be around here somewhere." The three of them waited in silence for some sign of the beast.

Seaweed's eyes passed over each box, looking for a nose, a tail... _or, you know, a moving stack of empty boxes works,_ he thought, watching a tower of cardboard shudder.

"THERE!" he yelled, lunging toward the boxes, raincoat out.

* * *

Link was shocked when Amber broke down in tears. Here she was telling him stuff. He guessed it was because they had known each other for a long time. "No he won't Amber, I mean you have changed a lot over the past few months. He didn't know if he should but he put a hand on her shoulder for comfort.

* * *

"Get it, Seaweed!" Paulie roared, watching intently as Seaweed lunged at the rat and wrestled with it. He saw Seaweed squirm and roll around on the floor, clamping the slicker over the rat. He vaguely thought that it would have been a neat dance, but he dismissed the thought as he watched what happened next.

* * *

Darla listened dully as the others spoke in low voices or moved quietly; it was like someone had died. No one had died; just passed out. The creaking from outside that had let them know the storm was still pounding had died out...

Darla sat up. There _was _no more creaking. No more howling winds...nothing. It was quiet. She beamed and jumped off her cot. "Everyone listen! The storm stopped! It's over! We can get out of here!"

Corny smiled down at Tracy. "Well I brought him back alive, or rather he brought me back!" They were both laughing together as Corny heard Darla squeal that the storm was over. Corny looked up and listened. Sure seemed to be quiet. He wondered.

"Anyone see Mike?" Corny asked searching for the Weatherman. He spied him happily munching a can of candy. Corny ran over to him.

"Is this the end Mike? Is the storm over?"

Mike put a finger up and continued to crunch the candy. He swallowed as much as he could and looked Corny's way, "Probably not. It's just the eye passing. Give it a few minutes and it will start up again."

Mike went back to picking out colors of drops as a collective groan could be heard all around them. Corny made his way to Darla. "Sorry, Darlin' Darla, looks like we're stuck for a while longer. Try and get some of that candy away from Mike before he eats it all."

"HEY!" Mike yelled as a rainbow of colors flew from his mouth. Corny went back to Tracy.

"How you holdin' up, Chickie?" He saw her mouth open to answer when his eyes drifted past her to Link and Amber in a far corner. Amber seemed to be very upset. He looked at Tracy, attempting to smile through his anger. "What's going on over there, Tracy? Link's temper isn't getting the best of him, is it?" His hands were balled into fists even though he kept his professional smile.

Darla sat down beside Mike the weatherman, sighing. He offered her some candy. She shook her head. "No thanks; you can have it. I'm not hungry."

Mike swallowed. "Not hungry? You're not one of those girls who doesn't eat, are you?"

Darla shook her head, smiling a little. "I love eating; the storm just took away my appetite." She drummed her fingers on her lap. "So...how bad is the storm that's coming up?" she asked as she heard the storm return full force. Drat.

"Bad," Mike said simply.

"Well, you would know," Darla sighed. "You are the weatherman, after all."

"Recognize my face?" Mike asked hopefully.

"You have a pin that says 'Weather' on your lapel," Darla pointed out.

Mike frowned. "Oh, yeah. Name's Mike, li'l darlin'."

"Darla," she returned, shaking his sticky hand. After a moment, she added, "My ex-boyfriend's name is Mikey."

Mike frowned. "I'm sorry."

* * *

IQ knelt on the cool floor beside Brad, holding the can to his forehead. He was still fuming over Paulie. He liked Darla as a friend, and only a friend. He wouldn't want to take that away from them. He sighed and took Brad's limp, cold hand in his. He could feel a faint pulse, so that was good. IQ wasn't generally a religious person, he went to church every Sunday with his parents, because he had to. But he didn't regularly pray or read the Bible, but at this moment, he felt a need. IQ took Brad's right hands and cupped his hands around them, and knelt and softly began to pray. He wanted Brad to be ok, and he wanted to just get out of this crazy storm alive. They all did.

* * *

Tracy looked at him. "I'm doing all right. You better watch what you call me, remember last month?" She watched as Corny looked passed her to Link and asked her a question. Corny didn't look happy. "He had a question to ask her." She put her hand on his. "Corny, don't worry, Link wouldn't do anything to Amber. He learned his lesson." Tracy knew then that Corny liked Amber. She could see it in his eyes. "Why don't you just tell her?"


	17. Chapter 17

_After much begging to redo the computers, Tad finally got it together so I can add._

_Thanks for all the R&Rs.  
_

Corny looked into Tracy's eyes. This girl was the most sincere person he had ever met in his life. She saw the best in everyone and had a Pollyanna attitude about situations. No matter what, she may be down for a bit, but never out for the count. Of course, in Tracy's mind, the music would swell, the clouds would clear, the sun would shine through a hole in the roof, then he would tell Amber how he felt and she would fall into his arms. Yeah, right. Corny knew two things. First, if Tracy Turnblad saw something, it was there and there was no denying it. She saw how he actually felt. And second, things don't turn out like the fifteen minute soap operas on CBS. He thought Amber changed, but he was wrong and he knew it.

He glowed at her. "I'm not sure I'm ready for that, little one. She's a pretty tough nut to crack. I'm not ready to be toyed with...." he replied and added "again" under his breath. He looked at Amber. Link was touching her shoulder. That was a gesture of comfort from Link. It was okay over there.

As Corny looked into her eyes, Tracy saw that a lot was going through his mind. She knew that Corny liked her like a sister. He was the older brother that she never had. She smiled at him. "Amber has changed, Corny. I don't believe she'd toy with you. If you opened up to her you might be surprised." She followed his gaze and saw Link with his hand on Amber's shoulder comforting her. If she had been any other girl she might have been jealous, but she knew Link and knew that what he was doing was innocent.

* * *

Darla got up and stretched. "Is there, um, a ladies' room down here?"

Mike pointed to his mouth, which was full of candy again, and gestured for her to wait a moment. He swallowed and said, "Well, yes, but it's not exactly a _ladies'_ room, per se. It's a unisex bathroom. It's right...over...there." Mike pointed out a door in the corner.

"Thank you," Darla said, walking towards the bathroom. It was a dingy room, but it was a bathroom nonetheless.

* * *

Corny looked down at Tracy then back to Link. In some ways he envied Link. Tracy was honest and sweet. She didn't play games. She seemed to be raised with the grace and class that he found in his own family. That's why she felt like a little sister to him. Link could count himself lucky. He watched as Amber wiped away tears then flipped her head and took a deep breath. Whatever had upset her, she covered with her Von Tussle veneer. Link handed her a small book and she stared down at it. She opened it and paged through. Corny turned back to Tracy, "What is that? What did Link give her?"

Tracy saw Amber wipe away her tears. She then watched as Link handed Amber the diary. It was probably best that she had it back. She could only wait to see if Link had worked his Larkin charm, which she couldn't deny were quite powerful. She hoped that Amber and Corny would get over their reservations and just talk. She turned back to Corny as he asked her a question. "Oh, that is just a book I found in a box of Amber's things." Tracy didn't think she should tell Corny what the book really was.

**

* * *

**

Link could see that Amber was calming down and putting her Von Tussle facade on. He had seen that façade on many occasions, like when they were out on dates and a fan of the show came up them or in front of the camera. He handed her the diary because he thought that was the best action to take. She took it and leafed through it.

"Just think about what I've said," he told her.

* * *

Corny shrugged his shoulders. The book was probably nothing. He puzzled why Tracy was so sure of this whole situation. She and Amber could not be considered 'friends' by any means. How could she know how Amber felt? He pushed it to the back of his mind and gave Tracy's shoulder a little squeeze.

"You're always looking out for everyone Tracy. That's what makes you, you!" he smiled as he looked past her at nothing, "I'll think about what you've sad. Okay? Scout's honor." He was avoiding her glance and felt just a wee bit guilty. He knew that she was totally sincere in her concern for him, but in some ways, he wasn't sure of himself to agree with this, especially when it came to the blond. Amber burned him before, nothing said she wouldn't do it again. Yet, using him was always attached to someone. Be it the job for her mother or keeping Shelley on the show, there was always that element of undying loyalty. A will to do for those she felt closest to. Now what did she have? Her mother had moved onto a new life, her friend was unthreatened. Did she actually NEED to use him anymore? He swirled it all around in his mind as he offered Tracy an arm, "Come on, let's see what's shakin' over there."

Tracy smiled as he squeezed her shoulder. He had given her the scouts honor and she did believe him, though she sensed a slight hesitancy in his voice. Corny then offered her his arm and asked if she wanted to see what was shakin over there. She smiled as she accepted his arm. Her smile grew even bigger as she locked her soft brown eyes on Link's baby blues.

Link saw Tracy accept Corny's arm. Jealousy started building inside of him, but he remembered that he had apologized for his stupid actions in the past and that Corny and Tracy were friends. He had also just saved the guys life. He found that he was happy that Corny was alright. He then noticed Tracy's bright smile. He smiled himself as his baby blues found her soft brown eyes. As soon as Tracy reached him she kissed his cheek an intertwined her fingers with his. He gently squeezed her hand.

Her lips then found their way to his ear as she whispered to him. Her hot breath tickled his skin. "How'd it go?"

Link moved to her ear and whispered back. She giggled as his breath touched her skin. "Ok, I think, did you tell Corny anything?"

"Not about the diary, but that he should open up to her," she whispered back.

Link tenderly kissed her cheek before looking to Amber and Corny. Tracy looked to them too.

Corny saw Link's face as they walked across the room. Ugh, not this again. He made a mental note to start thinking of Tracy as Link's girl and not one of his own sisters. He passed the sweet brunette to her waiting beau. She kissed him on the cheek. His eyes drifted to Amber. She flushed and looked down. Could Tracy be right? Did he want to take the chance? "Excuse me," he said to no one in particular, "I need to see if IQ is okay."

Amber looked after him and sighed.

* * *

Tracy was hopeful as she watched Corny and Amber. Amber actually flushed as Corny looked upon her.

_Come on Corny, just say something_ she thought.

Corny opened his mouth to talk and Tracy's hopes were heightened but then he excused himself. Tracy just shook her head. She remembered when she first started the show and had a crush on Link. It was hard to talk to him or even breathe when he was near her. Yet she felt that Corny could get over that and just talk.

Link saw at how encouraged Tracy looked. He had also seen Amber's flush. He had never seen her do that before. She was well so calm and collected. But this night had held many surprises so what was a few more. Corny excused himself. He saw how Amber looked after him and sighed. He knew it was hard at first to admit ones feelings to the person they liked. It had been hard when he first met Tracy. She took his breath away with all of her confidence and her dancing; well her dancing spoke for itself. He actually felt bad for Amber, even after everything they had been through.

Tracy looked at Amber and sighed herself. "Maybe you two can talk later."

Link looked at Tracy. Her optimism never ceased to amaze him.

* * *

_"Get it, Seaweed!"_

Seaweed ignored Paulie's yelling at him and focused on wrestling with the rat-thing. He tried to get the raincoat around the rodent.

"OW!" _Damn rat scratched me,_ he thought, feeling blood drip down his arm. He growled a little under his breath and tried again, avoiding the thing's claws.

"Got him!" Seaweed tied two ends of the wriggling bundle in a knot and held it at arm's length.

Paulie was about to cheer for Seaweed when he heard a very, very bad-sounding creaking and groaning. Before he could ask what it was, a titanic rush of water spurted out of _nowhere_, knocking the three occupants of the storage room off of their feet and into the madly swirling pool of water. Paulie and Seaweed tugged at the door until it gave.

"Come on!" Paulie shouted unnecessarily, struggling to move as he sloshed through the water. "Everyone get up there, _now_!" he bellowed, shoving whoever was closest to him to the stairs. He waited until everyone was upstairs; he would be fine. He counted the people who ran upstairs...something wasn't right. Someone was missing.

* * *

Darla was stunned; one moment she was coming out of the bathroom, the next, she was being shoved back in by a surge of water. She clung to the doorframe; she couldn't move. The water was moving too fast for her to fight against it. All she could do was shriek, and her cries were drowned out by the water. She called out to Mike, whom she knew was nearby, but he wasn't coming. She sobbed as she tried to push against the flow; it was painful.

"Darla!"

"PAULIE!" she half-screamed, half-sobbed. The water was up to their waists now as Paulie sloshed through it, kicking his legs to help his body move. He grabbed Darla's hand and held it tightly. She fought against the current, and while it still exhausted her to push through it, it was easier with Paulie pulling her.

Paulie was using every ounce of strength he had; Darla was a tiny girl, but her soaking wet dress and crinolines were weighing her down. Paulie finally pulled her to the stairs. She almost pulled him back in with her sopping clothes, but they grabbed the railing and propelled themselves upward until they were out of harm's way.

"Paulie?"

He turned to look at Darla's damp face. She threw her arms around his neck and clung to him tightly.

* * *

Corny was making his way over to where IQ was kneeling next to Brad when the freezing water hit. He looked back to Amber who was being steadied by Link as he supported Tracy. He grabbed IQ by the collar and pulled him up. "Stop praying there boy! God helps those who help themselves!!!" He shouted over to Link, "Can you get the other end of this cot? You guys can carry Brad like a stretcher...." He grabbed Tracy's hand from Link then looked straight at Amber. "This must be a tidal surge! I'm not sure how high it will go!"

She stared at him terrified, unable to move. Finally he grabbed her around the waist with his free hand.

"Come on, baby. You come with me." he whispered as he pulled her to him. Her arms went around him and her head fell to his shoulder. Under different circumstances, he would have loved where he was at that moment. Right now, all he could think of was getting everyone out.

He looked around, "Hey, where's Fender? And Doreen?"

* * *

Tracy was holding onto Link's hand when she felt something wet on her legs. She looked down.

"LINK! There's water!"

Link looked down and was surprised to see that indeed there was water and it was rising fast. Tracy grabbed on tighter to his hand. If Link had the chance to think about it, his hand would have really hurt. They heard Corny shout in their direction at Link. Both were stunned as Corny grabbed Tracy's hand.

"Hey what are you.." Link started but the look on Corny's face told him to not continue. So he moved to the cot as Corny asked and took the other end. Tracy heard what Corny told Amber and was touched by the feeling in his voice but then she glanced around and saw Link gaze at her. He was worried about what was happening. This shelter was supposed to be safe; it was a _shelter_ after all. He put his hands on the cot ready to lift it. Tracy looked to Corny to see what he thought they should do next


	18. Chapter 18

Corny pointed toward the steps as he looked for the others. "UP! Up the steps! We'll have to take our chances back in the studio!"

Shelley came up behind Amber and latched on to them with one arm then looped the other around Tracy's shoulders, trying to give as much momentum to the four of them as she could. She smiled down at Tracy, hoping that she understood they were now all in this together. Shelley may not have been Tracy's favorite person, but they were all dependent on each other during this.

Suddenly a rat swam by. Shelley screamed. Even Corny jumped at the site. "Jeepers, don't let it touch you! Just keep going!!" He made it slowly to the steps and pulled Tracy to the banister. Shelley came with her and the two struggled to follow Link, IQ and the cot between them. Corny could feel the first step with his foot and yelled out, "Go, go, go! Get the door and keep going!"

* * *

This was honestly the last thing Brenda needed. It was one thing to deal with heartburn, nausea, back pains, and swollen feet on dry land. But now that the studio was practically falling apart, and there was a chance that they could all drown? That was a different story. It was an odd thing to think about, but Brenda realized that these weren't the last people she wanted to see on Earth. Honestly. If she was going to die, it might as well be staring into Rock Hudson's eyes, or somebody. Not Paulie's. She fought the urge to shudder, suddenly feeling a sharp pain in her lower stomach. It felt like cramps, but times a hundred.

"Ugh," she groaned, but no one seemed to notice, on account of this being a life-or-death situation, and all. "I don't feel so..."

All of a sudden, she felt a splash below her. Obviously, this wasn't exactly a strange occurrence, because they were ankle deep in water (which was actually kind of gross, now that she thought about it, because what if this water came from the sewer or something?). But her dress was soaked, and call it mother's intuition, but she had a feeling that she was going into labor, and that splash was her water breaking.

And that Paulie will probably want to deliver the baby.

"Ugh."

* * *

After Corny said to go upstairs, Tracy felt an arm go around her shoulder and found that it was Shelley's. Shelley smiled at her. Tracy smiled back knowing that they were all trying to find higher ground where they could be safe. Shelley suddenly screamed making Tracy and the others jump. She looked down to see a rat. Tracy decided to not think about the rat or she might hinder anyone's progress. Actually she found that she had little time to think about anything at all. She looked to Link who was carrying the cot along with IQ. She hoped that they all could make it upstairs soon.

Link tried not to drop the cot as he heard Shelley scream. He took a deep breath and concentrated on Brad and the cot. He felt more adrenaline pump through his veins. He looked to IQ. He hoped that they could make it a safe distance away from the water soon.

_Just a little farther_ he thought.

* * *

Penny screamed when she felt water gushing down the back of her dress and pooling around her feet. Paulie and Seaweed pushed the door open before she could stop them--luckily, it stayed that way, and she had a way to get out of the little storeroom. She stood up carefully and began to make her way to the stairwell.

_Whoa_. Apparently, in the minute or so that she'd been stuck in the storeroom, all hell had broken loose. The stairs were clogged with people pushing their way up and out of the basement. Kids were screaming, Corny was yelling at them to calm down, and Penny thought she heard Brenda saying something about her water breaking--oh, God.

Just then, Seaweed broke out of the crowd and ran--well, okay, slogged through the ankle-deep water--over to her. "Penny! You're okay!" He hugged her tightly, and then dropped back to hold her at arms length. "You're okay, right?"

Penny laughed weakly. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Good." He put his arm around her shoulders and shook his head. "Man, this is turning out to be one crazy night."

"You've got that right." Penny noticed the crowd starting to thin--kids were finally getting upstairs. "We should get out of here before the water gets any higher."

Seaweed looked down and noticed that what had been ankle-deep water was now more like shin-deep. "Probably. Let's go," he said quickly.

* * *

Paulie kinda didn't Darla to pull away, but they couldn't exactly stand there forever. "Are you okay?" he asked her, searching her face.

She nodded. "I'm...okay. Wet, but okay."

Paulie smiled a little, but it vanished after a moment. "If I hadn't come for you...you'd have..."

"But the point is that you _did_ come for me, and it _didn't_ happen," Darla said firmly.

Paulie, however, was not to be relieved. "Darla, about IQ..."

"I know," she sighed. "And, well, maybe I shouldn't have been so...you know? I don't know. Just...let's forget about it."

Paulie nodded. "I'm gonna go see if anyone needs any help; you go sit down, okay?"

"Paulie, I'm fine--"

"Please?"

Darla nodded slowly. "Okay," she agreed, kissing him on the cheek before going off to find a place to sit and rest.

Paulie turned to the chaos around him, feeling much better than he had a moment ago. "Does anyone need any help?"

* * *

Corny followed the boys with the cot into the studio itself. He handed Tracy off to Link with a smile, then pointed Shelley and Amber in the direction of the vanities, and couches behind. He headed back to the door as Penny and Seaweed sloshed through the door. Corny did a quick count on who was there. Fender, Doreen, Becky, Mike and Bob from the Newsroom and Brenda. BRENDA! Who know if she could make it up alone. Suddenly he heard Paulie ask if her could help anyone.

"Paulie!" he shouted, "Can you go down and see if Brenda needs any help?"

Paulie nodded.

Corny did a quick evaluation of the studio. The creaks and pops were so much louder up here. The lights swayed and he could see a few leaks in the ceiling steadily dripping onto the floor. He got under one of them. It looked like the water was dripping but there were no cracks. That was good news. He was relieved to conclude that the flat roof was holding, even under the pressure of the water. Still, it would be better to stay towards the center of the building, rather than the edges, and away from water leaks for sure. He looked around again, trying to mentally inventory the people there. Some were still missing but perhaps he just missed them coming up the steps and they found a good place to hang out. Somehow, he couldn't imagine Fender and Doreen enjoying each other's company, but hey, stranger things have happened in this situation. He made his way back to the couch where Amber, Shelley and Darla sat wet and cold.

"Why don't you girls change?" he began, "The lot of you are shivering so hard, you're going to vibrate away."

The girls stood and started in the direction of the wardrobes. Amber's eyes met his. Her mouth opened, then closed and she walked away. He watched after her and shook his head. Then he glanced back to the sofa. There was the old ratty teddy bear Amber was clutching as they came up. Next to it, sat the book Link had handed to Amber.

"My Diary" was embossed across the front.

Corny stared at it as his mind ticked. Maybe Link and Tracy had an insight to her feelings, from the pages of that book. Could it be that this was why Tracy insisted she knew how Amber felt? His heart jumped just a bit. A little wave of confidence overcame him. Maybe Tracy didn't just want things to be a certain way, maybe she knew they were. He was tempted to pick the book up, squirrel away to a corner and read Amber's deepest thoughts. But then it hit him, maybe he didn't need to do that. Maybe he knew them already.

* * *

Link made sure that Brad looked alright before turning to Tracy. He didn't really think about how much water was down in the basement until he felt Tracy in his arms again. She was shaking from the cold water and from fright. He wrapped his arm around her bringing her closer to him. Her body heat instantly made his temperature rise a few degrees. In another situation he might have better enjoyed their closeness but now wasn't the time."You're shaking doll, maybe we can find you some warm clothes."

"Link you're shaking too."

His body shook. "I'll be all right."

Tracy shook her head as if to say _men!_ "We both should find some dry clothes."

They saw Amber, Darla and Shelley start towards the wardrobe. Tracy thought that she had an extra dress or skirt or something in there that she could change into. Link thought he had some clean shirts and pants as well.

Link looked up at the ceiling. "At least the roof is holding."

Tracy smiled a little and nodded. "I bet it holds."

Link grinned down at her but soon frowned at her appearance. She looked like icicles should be forming in her hair. "But we might get hypothermia if we don't get warm. Let's go doll."

Link grabbed Tracy's hand and they headed over to the wardrobe.

* * *

Paulie timidly approached Brenda as she trudged up the stairs. "Uh, Brenda? Do you...need any help? Because...that water might, you know...catch up with you and drown you. Maybe."

* * *

Darla was indeed shivering; she couldn't stop shaking and nothing made her feel any warmer. She knew she couldn't really be too choosy about clothes, as long as they were dry, but it would be nice to get something that fit. The other girls were of different builds than Darla; most had well-rounded figures and an actual body with curves while she felt like a stick with...what was it Aunt Gloria said the French called it? Oh yeah; two eggs on a plate. She paused as she rifled through flouncy dresses; she came across a snug-looking flowery dress that looked like it would fit. A glance at the tag told her it was Amber's. She held the dress up from the rack.

"Um-m-m, Amber?" Darla asked timidly, still shivering so badly that her teeth were chattering. "Is it o-o-o-okay if I b-b-borrow this?"

* * *

Brenda froze, letting out a shaky breath. She was going into labor, and everything was _wrong_. She wasn't supposed to be in a flooding basement, surrounded by people who she hated (and for good reason, because they treated her like dirt when she was kicked off the show). And also, she was pretty reluctant to have Paulie see her bottom half naked, and she was pretty sure that that was going to happen at some point.

An even more disturbing realization crossed her mind; Corny was here. And for reasons that she could not explain, the thought of him being there for the birth both disgusted her and relieved her, because at least he would be here for the birth. She knew he wouldn't bother to come in any other situation. And yet, she didn't want him to be there. She could just _picture_ him standing there, looking all proud of himself, and yet disinterested in the child that he helped create. In her imagination, he looked kind of like the Devil, with red eyes and everything. It was complicated with Corny. Brenda had hoped that she could sort things out before she had their child, but it looked like that wasn't happening.

"Um, I _would_ move, Paulie. But I'm kind of giving birth right now."

* * *

Paulie swallowed.

_Oh_.

Things had just gotten complicated.

"Uh...oops. Um...well...let's at least get you upstairs..."

It took awhile, but Paulie half-pushed, half-pulled the literally laboring Brenda up the stairs. The minute they had reached the top, he shouted, "WE NEED A DOCTOR!"

* * *

As Tracy and Link reached the wardrobe they saw Shelley, Amber and Darla. They were going through the clothes. Darla was asking Amber a question.

"Hey guys," Tracy said trying not to allow her teeth to chatter like Darla's had.

Link looked to them. "Are there any clothes in there that belong to us?"

_Maybe they didn't hear me_ Link thought.

Tracy was shivering even more. Link held her close trying to let his body heat warm her but as he looked at her beautiful face he saw that her lips had turned a shade of blue. He knew that blue lips were a bad sign.

"Tracy, are you all right?"

She looked up at him and grinned as she always did. "I'm fine." Her voice shook as she said those words. Tracy rested her head on Link's shoulder.

He grinned at her. "I guess we are all tired."

Tracy didn't respond. Her grip on his hand weakened as she started slipping off of his shoulder and out of his grasp.

"TRACY!"

Link picked her up as if she weighed as much as a leaf. Actually she wasn't that heavy to carry. It must have been all the muscles he'd worked on by dancing every day. He carried her over to a small couch that was in the studio and laid her down on it. He immediately kneeled and felt her pulse as he had with Corny earlier. It was faint but she was still alive. He tried to gently wake her but it didn't work. He even leaned over and kissed her. Her lips were colder than usual and she didn't respond like she normally did.

He looked around frantically. "TRACY! SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!"

Tracy knew that she was lying as she told Link she was fine. A sudden feeling of drowsiness overcame her so she decided to lean her head on Link's shoulder. She could hear his voice but when she went to speak nothing came out. She felt her body start slipping but then Link was holding her as if she weighed nothing at all. Then she felt fabric underneath her and Link's fingers checking her pulse. She even felt his lips on hers and she struggled to respond but again nothing happened.

_What's happening?_ She thought.


	19. Chapter 19

As soon as Paulie got her to the top of the stairs, Brenda heard a deafening thump. She thought that at first it was the stairs collapsing or something, but the minute Link started screaming for help, she knew that it must've been something to do with Tracy. That boy was obsessed.

But, there were more important things to think about. Like the fact that there was no doctor in the studio (unless you counted Gladys the nurse, but she was only trained to bandage sprained ankles and pass out lollipops). Like the fact that this whole place was going to be flooded. Like the fact that Paulie was touching her (ew). And maybe the fact that worried her most of all was that she was about to have a baby, and she wasn't ready.

* * *

Amber looked at Darla holding one of her dresses. She had to think hard about what the girl was saying. Her mind was still trying to talk to Corny. To tell him thanks, to tell him more. She couldn't find the words or the nerve. She shook her head and Darla looked down.

"Wait, no, Darla, I didn't mean that. Wear it. We're all wet. Just take it," Amber assured her. "I'll get it from you later." She smiled then looked past her as Tracy slid down Link. "Oh my God!"

* * *

Shelley looked around as she came out of the bathroom. Why did things seem to always fall apart when she was around. Paulie was pushing a grimacing Brenda up the steps, Link was carrying Tracy to one of the couches. Things couldn't get worse suddenly seemed funny. Worse was coming quick. A quick evaluation ran through her mind. Brenda? Not really much she could do at this point. Tracy? Immediate attention.

She hurried over to the couch. Tracy's lips were blue and her breathing was shallow. Shelley picked up her wrist. Pulse, weak but steady. That was a good sign. "Link, I think she may be going into shock. We need to do things fast so she doesn't." She said into his wide eyes, "I'll get some blankets, you sit and cradle her head. Tilt it back and make sure she can breathe easily. I'm going to get some kind of sugar. You'll have to get it onto her tongue without choking her."

Link slipped under Tracy, positioning his legs under her shoulders. He stroked her hair.

"Tilt her face to the side. I'll be right back...." Shelley ran to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door. She ticked at the amount of old food and snacks were inside. Her eyes rested on an open carton of orange juice. She snatched it and made her way back to Link.

_

* * *

_

Corny pulled on the dry pants he recovered from his personal wardrobe in his office. His mind was still on the Diary. Things seemed to be different and in some ways they were. Now since they were upstairs, he had his office available. With a door and privacy. He resolved to snatch a moment alone with her whenever he got the chance. Pull her in to his office and get a feel for what SHE was feeling. This was all so emotionally charged, he wanted to go slowly and carefully. He wasn't going to get burned again. It was such a sweet burning, but.....NO, he didn't need to think that way. He didn't need that again.

He opened the door and heard Paulie yelling as he helped Brenda. She was in obvious pain. "Oh &/#" he thought. This was the dead last thing he needed, or wanted. He wanted the whole thing over with and it all to go away. But right now, he was in a pickle. If he went to her, people would think he knew that was his kid. If he didn't, he looked like the biggest A-Hole in the world. And would feel that way when the whole thing was over. His or not his, they shared something that could not be undone. He sighed. Time to take the high road. He ran over and slipped under Brenda's arm, "What's going on?"

* * *

After being stuck behind Paulie and Brenda for a while, Seaweed and Penny finally made it up the stairs. "Do you think she needs help?" Penny asked, concerned. "I mean, not that anyone here has any experience with childbirth, but--" She cut off and gasped.

"TRACYYYYYYY!" Penny ran over to the couch where Tracy was lying, incapacitated. "Are you okay?"

Seaweed turned to Link. "What's going on?"

_I can't believe this is happening!!! _Link thought.

Link felt his heart plummet into his stomach. He didn't know what he'd do if he ever lost Tracy. No he couldn't think like that. Tracy was the strongest person he knew. She could survive anything. He watched as Shelley approached them and started assessing Tracy. She checked her pulse as he had done. His eyes were wide with fear as he tried to concentrate as Shelley was talking to him. He positioned himself just as Shelley instructed with his legs under her shoulders. As he stroked her hair he hoped that the blood stain from his ruined pants didn't somehow seep onto her. He also hoped that by doing this it might stimulate Tracy into waking. It didn't but he hated to admit that it calmed him a bit, that was until he looked closely at her again.

"Trace, please stay with us, with _me_," he whispered as he gazed at her stone like face. He didn't know if the blanket and sugar would help but it couldn't hurt. He was amazed at how Shelley was handling everything. He never thought that she had that in her. He gazed down at Tracy again. She looked almost like she was asleep except for the bluish tint to her lips. Link felt tears well up in his eyes. He never cried. "I love you Tracy," he said as he leaned close to her forehead. It shocked him how cold and clammy she felt.

He was knocked out of his reverie as he heard Penny and Seaweed. He tried to hide any tears that had formed with the sleeve of his shirt. Penny ran over to their side shocked at seeing her friend lying there. He felt bad for Penny. Tracy and Penny had been friends since forever it seemed. It was unreal to see someone like Tracy, someone so full of life, just lying there helpless. He knew that Penny must have had the same thoughts. He wondered if Penny knew she wasn't going to get an answer to the question she asked. He turned to Seaweed as he asked Link a question.

"I..mmm not sure. One minute she was cold and shivering but awake and the next she was slipping out of my grasp. Shelley thinks she's going into shock!"

Tracy felt Shelley feel her wrist then her body move as Link moved her. She heard his plea to stay and she wanted to tell him that he would never leave him but she still couldn't get the words to come out of her mouth. She then felt Links forehead on hers and wetness on her skin.

_Is he crying??_ She thought.

She then heard his words.

"I love you too Link," she tried to say. But again no words came out.

Shelley ran to Link and handed him the orange juice. "Link, get a bit of Orange Juice on her tongue every few minutes. I need to find the blankets." Link nodded.

She ran back over to the wardrobe and peered inside. "Oh no. No one brought the blankets up!" Without thinking she tore back across the studio and threw open the basement door.

Amber saw her run. And gasped in horror as she began down the steps, "Shelley, NO!!!!"

Shelley didn't think. She just acted. The water had gotten to the fifth step and was freezing but she saw the blankets on top of the boxes by where the cots were set up. She plunged into the hip deep water, and startled at the temperature.

"Oh gosh, this water is cold!!!" She said into the air. She heard Amber screaming from the doorway but ignored her, because all she wanted to do was get the blanket and get back out. After what seemed like forever, she got to it and put it on her head, making her way back. For one second she paused, and snatched the tin of candy. When she hit the bottom step, with the current of water pushing her along, she had to smile.

"Whoa, man I'm freezing!" she said to herself as she pulled up by the railing. She trotted up the step as fast as her soaked dress would let her.

"Here, fill your mouth with this....." she said to Amber who stood with her mouth open. Then Shelley made her way to Tracy and the others.

"Here get her covered with this, " she said to the shocked faces around her. "And the more warm bodies with her, the better. Penny, can you get in under her legs? The more body heat she has around her, the better off she is. It looks like some of her color is coming back. Maybe we can get by THIS!"

She looked down at her dress, "Ugh, soaked again. Geez...." She shook her head as she walked back to find a new dress.

Link looked up as Shelley returned. He took the glass of Orange Juice and with his other hand parted Tracy's lips a little. Gently he poured a little of the liquid into her mouth. He didn't want to cause her to asphyxiate or something. She coughed a little but drank the juice. Link was thankful that she was drinking. He nodded as Shelley said she needed to find the blankets. He watched her go and saw how distressed Amber was at seeing Shelley go downstairs. Amber was just full of surprises that night. He was about to shout to Shelley about staying up here but his voice only came out in an embarrassing squeak. His throat was dry so after giving another sip of juice to Tracy he took a small drop as well. Shelley's dress was soaking wet when she returned. She placed a blanket around Tracy and talked to Penny. At the mention of coloring getting better Link looked down at Tracy. Her plump cheeks were looking more normal. He sent a silent prayer in thanks at her looking better. He couldn't help the tears that had already formed in his eyes. He wiped them away hoping that no one else saw.

Tracy was still in amazement about Link crying. She had never known him to cry before. She got to see his vulnerabilities even if he didn't want to show them to anyone and she loved how deep she could see inside of him. She then felt cool liquid go down her throat. It felt like forever since she last drank anything. She coughed a little as she drank but it still felt good. She then felt something like a blanket maybe on top of her and someone by her legs. Shelley mentioned Penny so Tracy guessed that was who was by her legs. The extra warmth she felt did make her feel better. A soft moan escaped her lips.

At first he thought the soft sound he heard was from outside or something but then he realized that it had come from Tracy. With wide eyes he stared at her, waiting to see what would happen next.

* * *

Darla smiled a little uncertainly at Amber's strange behavior, but her focus soon snapped to the flurry of commotiong around Tracy. She shoved the hanger back onto the rack and hurried to join the throng. What was _happening_ to the people here?! She had lost count of the amount of people who had passed out by now! Maybe they were cursed. It was a very distinct possibility. After all, Doreen dealt in voodoo (according to Noreen, anyway). Or maybe the hurricane was doing it. Darla had read that animals behaved strangely when natural disasters were imminent; perhaps the hurricane was causing some of the people to pass out.

* * *

Paulie had never been in a more awkward situation before in his life. He turned to Corny as the older man supported the girl he had impregnated.

"Uh, well...she's kinda...you know...giving birth, Corny. Um...do I have to...help? I read in a book once that you need a shoe-string. Um...I don't have to help, do I?"

Brenda glared at Paulie. "No, you're not going to _help_. Do you honestly think that I want you poking around down--"

She stopped as a shot of intense pain coursed through her. Placing a hand on her lower stomach, she spat: "Does anyone...have any experience...on birthing children?"

Paulie was relieved; he _really_ didn't want to watch a live birth.

"Oh, um, okay." He paused. "Uh...maybe we should...get a...girl in here? Someone who, you know, has all the...parts?"

Corny looked to Brenda then back at Paulie. The kid was trying, he had to give him credit for that, but basically he was not the person needed. Corny remembered when his mother gave birth to his littlest sister Candy, it took forever. Seemed hours and hours he waited with his dad. This wasn't an immediate situation by any means. "Let's just get her over to the couch....." Corny stated but then saw that Tracy was reclined there. The worried looks on those surrounding her let him know that the couch was out of the question. "Okay look, we're gonna need a place to set her down. Let's get her into Mr. Spritzer's office. There's a couch in there." Corny looked around. He spied Mike the Weatherman standing next to Amber, waiting for the candy tin. "Hey Mike!" he hollered.

Mike's hand was about to dip into the tin when he heard Corny. He looked up and pointed to himself.

"Yeah! We need you over here. You're a father. We need some fatherly advice...." Corny knew that anyone within earshot thought it would be strange for the father of this baby to be calling another father over, but that didn't matter right now. Mike made his way over as they entered Spritzer's office and helped Brenda to the leather sofa. "How long was your wife in labor Mike?" Corny asked.

"She was twelve with the last," he replied looking at Brenda's protruding belly.

"How about the first? Corny asked as he bundled one of Spritzer's suit coats into a pillow.

"Aw geez!" Mike cried, "Seemed like days! I think it was like twenty hours."

"Good." Corny turned to Paulie, "Kid, ya got a job. Watch this clock. Tell Mike here when the next pain starts. Let's find out how far apart they are. Mike, can you stay with her?"

Mike nodded.

"Let me see what Shelley's up to." And with that he headed out the door.


	20. Chapter 20

With his eyes trained on Tracy's face, Link brushed his fingers through her hair. "Trace?"

She hadn't realized that her moan was heard until she felt Link's hand stroking her hair and heard him say her name. She had to admit that she sensed her body feeling stronger. She moved slightly and Link's hand paused. Tracy tried to open her eyes but on the first attempt they would but she tried again and they fluttered open. She immediately locked onto Link's shiny blue eyes. His whole face was smiling down at her. She smiled back up at him. She tried to speak but her voice came out hoarse. "Link."

Link was watching Tracy as he stroked her hair. Her arms and legs moved a bit and he paused what he was doing. He could see that her coloring was looking better. He was about to feel her cheeks to see if they were any warmer when her eyes fluttered open. In that moment, her stunningly brown eyes were gazing at his blue. He could feel his whole face brighten as he smiled. She smiled back at him. _Thank you!_ He secretly prayed. Then he heard the most beautiful sound, Tracy's voice, and she was saying his name. He leaned over and captured her lips in a fierce kiss. Link held her close to him. "Trace, you're awake!"

Tracy always loved Link's kisses. With this one she could feel small tears as he let his relief and happiness at her being awake pour into that kiss. She could also feel his body relax as he held her close. She looked around and saw Penny and Seaweed. Penny looked really worried. She then looked back at Link. Her voice was still a little hoarse as she spoke. "What happened?"

Link's smile faded a bit. "We were standing and you fainted. I picked you up and carried you to this couch and Shelley came and said that she thought you were going into shock and she gave me orange juice to give to you and she went back downstairs to get you a blanket."

Tracy's eyes widened. "Shelley did that!?"

Link nodded.

"And you carried me!?"

He shrugged. "You would've been on the cold floor if I hadn't."

Shelley came out of the bathroom after changing into her last dry dress. She tried reteasing her hair but the humidity in the studio made it impossible. She smoothed the linen as she made her way to Tracy. She smiled at her open eyes.

"Well Miss Turnblad, how are we feeling?" she said, mimicking the way her dad spoke with his patients. "Better?" She looked to Link but his eyes never left his love. "I see you did the trick there Link. Great job!"She smiled at both of them.

Penny breathed a huge, happy sigh of relief. "Tracy, you're not dead!" she squealed, giving her friend a hug.

Seaweed just grinned. "Good to have you back, girl." Suddenly, he heard grunts from across the room and noticed Paulie and that weatherman from the next studio--Mick? Manny?--carrying Brenda into Mr. Spritzer's office.

He turned to Link. "You got this, man?" Link didn't answer, just continued to stroke Tracy's hair, which Seaweed took as a yes. He looked at Penny and asked, "You wanna stay here, baby? I think there's something over in the next room that I better go help with."

Penny looked warily at Seaweed. "Have you ever helped anyone give birth before?"

Seaweed shrugged. "I was the only man there when my mom was having Inez. I know a few things."

Penny sighed again. "Okay, I guess it's fine. But try to get a girl in there, would you? I think Brenda needs a female to help her out... I'd do it, but I'm a little squeamish." She was most likely just imagining that she was lightheaded at the thought of all that blood that would be involved soon.

Seaweed chuckled. "You're probably right." He kissed her on the forehead. "You just hang out here with Tracy. I'll be right back."

* * *

Corny scanned the room looking for Shelley. She was standing over by Tracy and the gang. Tracy appeared to be talking and awake. _Phew_ Corny was getting weary with people passing out. The Brenda situation seemed bigger at the moment and Shelley may well be able to handle it.

He strutted up to her. "Shelley, can I talk to you?" Snatching her arm he spun her back in the direction of Spritzer's office. He leaned into her as they walked. "How much do you know about childbirth?"

Her eyes grew wide and she stopped. "Oh Corny...." Shelley gasped, "Brenda?"

He nodded. "Is that something you can handle?"

"Oh jeepers!" she cried as she started moving again. "This is not basic first aid. This is serious stuff. I'm not sure....."

"Well, you're about it, I think." Corny smiled at her. "You and the girls went to see _Gone With the Wind_ a couple years ago. You aren't gonna pull a Prissy on me? No 'I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' babies' are you?"

Shelley sighed, "No, I think I can come up with a bit more knowledge that a twelve-year-old movie character. Is there any way we can get some water boiling and perhaps find a newspaper? One that hasn't been read. And a knife or better yet, scissors. Can you find that, Dad?" she asked slyly then hurried away.

"Dad." Corny blanched. This was not going to be a good experience. Corny began to search for the items Shelley asked for. He put the kettle on in the kitchen, found a knife and scissors. Now a newspaper. A newspaper? Unread? What was that about? Well at this moment it really didn't matter, he needed to find one. He searched through every drawer. Not like he expected to find one there but better safe than sorry. Nothing.

He grabbed the supplies and made his way to the newsroom. If anyone would have a newspaper, it would be someone in the newsroom. He flipped a light and began his quest. He looked in drawers and trashcans. Just as he was about to give up, he spied a folded and unopened paper on one of the chairs. Was it unread? He picked it up and saw the headline proclaiming the hurricane coming at Baltimore. It seemed to be brand new and still tight, as if it had never been unfolded. Yup, September 19th 1962. Good bet it was abandoned before reading.

As he flipped off the light and began to make his way back to Shelley, his mind drifted. To that day. The day she got to him. Brenda had tried many a time to get him alone in his office. He knew where it would lead. Most times he would duck and avoid her. The girl had a way with boys. They were bursting with testosterone and easily manipulated. She could get them where she wanted them by giving them what they wanted. She was good, or so he heard. He had no intention of finding out.

However, being Valentine's Day, everyone was dressed in red and love was in the air. He watched the girls coo and caress their boys as each received a gift. He stood in the shadows as Link handed Amber a heart shaped box of chocolates and a single red rose. For a moment, he thought how ordinary the gift was. Yet, Amber squealed and kissed the kid with more zeal than he had seen before. Link's hand drifted from her back. Around her side, slightly brushing her breast as it traveled up to stroke her cheek. Her fingers lightly traced his back and down to his belt loops. She inserted her thumbs and pulled his hips closer. Corny heard him moan and he did as well. Then he heard someone clearing her throat. Brenda stared at him seductively. His resolve was gone. He put his hand out to her and led her into his office. No one even noticed that they emerged ruffled and flushed a few minutes later.

Funny how it seemed like forever ago. Funny how fast nine months goes by. Was he ready to be a father? Would he be happier about this when he.....?

He stopped and stared at the paper again. Nine months? He started to count on his fingers. February to March, one month. April, May... It only came to seven. Seven months. _Awck_ NO! Really? Did he sleep with her when she was already...? He shivered all over and shook his head. He didn't want to think about it right now. He ran out of the room and put it out of his mind.

* * *

After hurriedly securing a corner that she _thought_ no one would look at, Darla shimmied out of her wet dress and into Amber's. It was nice and warm after her sopping clothes and fit her wonderfully. Darla almost wanted to look at her reflection, but there wasn't much time for that. When she emerged from behind the rack of suit jackets for the boys that she had taken refuge behind, she approached Corny.

"Um, Corny? What's going on right now? Are you okay?" she asked, noticing his panicked expression.

* * *

Paulie attempted to edge out of the room. He had seen _Gone with the Wind_ before, and he was starting to feel like Prissy who "didn't know nuthin' 'bout birthin' no babies" while Shelley was the cool-headed Scarlett O'Hara. A fleeting image of him in Prissy's dress and turban and Shelley in one of Scarlett's voluminous dresses passed through his mind, but he shut it out quickly. Corny was going to help...maybe Paulie could get away...

Shelley saw him and the look on her face was enough to dissuade him.

"Uh...what should I do, Shells?"

* * *

Tracy was glad she wasn't standing when Penny hugged her. The force of that hug would have caused her to fall over. She smiled at her best friend.

"I'm all right Penny," she managed to say before all of the air was squeezed out of her.

She smiled at Seaweed. "Thanks Seaweed."

Link was still gazing lovingly at Tracy. "I'm glad too."

Tracy heard some movement then Penny mention something about birth. "Birth? Who's giving birth?" Then it hit her. BRENDA! She must have gone into labor. "Is Brenda having her baby?" Tracy asked. She started to sit up. "Maybe I can help."

Link was startled out of watching Tracy and stroking her hair as Tracy started moving. "Doll, you're not fit to help. Besides I'm sure Shelley's in there and Seaweed just left to go help."

Tracy knew that he was probably right but she wasn't so sure Seaweed could handle childbirth. She had seen her aunt give birth to her baby cousin a year ago. Tracy tried standing up again against the protests coming from Link. As she tried to stand, she started feeling light headed. Link grabbed her arm as she wobbled. With his help she sat back down on the couch She looked to Link. He was relieved that she was back on the couch but his eyes shone with concern. "Ok maybe I'll just let the others handle it."

Link didn't like that she was so wobbly on her feet. "Tracy maybe you should try eating some of this candy that Shelley brought."

Tracy's stomach grumbled as she nodded her head. Link handed her a couple pieces of candy before wrapping the blanket around her again. Tracy bit the first piece and slowly chewed it. She had to admit that it did make her feel slightly better.

* * *

Corny looked at Darla as she spoke to him. His mind was still swirling around the concept he couldn't chase from his mind. Pregnant. With someone inside her. Someone he was about to see. He was shuttering and blanched as white as snow. He tried to focus on the sweet face in front of him but could only see Brenda at the height of....

"NO!" He barked in Darla's direction. He saw her startled look then came back to reality. "Sorry, um...oh. Everything's okay Darla. It will be okay...." He hustled away, unable to overcome the shivers of disgust.

* * *

Amber watched, mouth open awaiting another candy. It looked like something was horribly wrong with Corny. She had never seen him look so upset. He hurried past her. She walked over to Darla

"What's up with him?" she asked her.

* * *

Shelley looked at Paulie. "The best thing you can do is to keep watching for her next contraction. It's been about 10 minutes, right?"


End file.
